


Song of Darkness

by TheGeek01



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-13 18:05:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13576053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGeek01/pseuds/TheGeek01
Summary: Long ago, there was a great city called Aephaera. It held Gods, Demi-Gods and fearsome dragons, making itself the capital of the continent. It was corrupted, however, by wretched beings known as the Fiolaid Demons, who used their mind-altering abilities to harm and kill. They were destroyed long ago, and the city was at peace.Two travellers entered the city millenias later, and with them, one appeared.With Aephaera on the brink of a darker reality, the Doctor and Rose are caught in the middle of the turmoil, against dragons, murder and mystery, and an unloving Queen.(idk how to do summaries but that's the best I got. Please enjoy!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER
> 
> The characters from the TV Show Doctor Who belong to their rightful characters. Other characters, places belong to me. The plot was inspired by George R.R Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire.

The servant walked throughout the halls of the palace at midnight. He was sent to bring supplies from the storage room to the Queen, but was new to the palace and didn't quite know his way around yet. He would surely be beaten if he was not on time. He couldn't afford another tardy.

Not watching where he was walking, lost in his own thoughts, he headed head-first into a pillar of the grand hallway.

He stumbled back and fell, but something else fell with him. He blinked several times to clear up his vision and saw that several thin books had fallen right beside him.

He got to his feet and picked up the books, wondering where they came from? And how had they been hidden so well?

He looked at the pillar which he hit and saw a tiny hole in the stone, large enough to fit the books, but not large enough to be seen without looking too closely.

Now curious, he opened the first one he had in his hands and was confused by the writing. It seemed ancient! He had never seen writing this old before. Or, maybe it was modern writings. He couldn't exactly read, but he knew the alphabet. This alphabet seemed off, all the letters twisted and turned into semi-familiar shapes.

He tried to translate what he could in the dark, with his limited knowledge of literacy, when he was abruptly interrupted.

"Who the hell are you?" A voice called from behind him. Startled, the young turned around quickly, almost dropping the books and losing his balance once again. A few loose pages fell from the books, and he hurriedly picked them up before the man could see.

"No one... it-it doesn't matter." He said quickly, before realizing that there was no reason for the man to be there.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The young man asked, glaring at the other man across from him. He was slim but fit. He was not dressed as a normal servant, trading the itchy trousers and scratchy shirt for a loose-fitting white shirt and brown trousers, accompanied by a darker brown boot. This man was dressed leisurely, and that was not a luxury men had here.

The man advanced towards him, slowly. Even the way he walked showed arrogance. He would surely be beaten for such conduct. All men here were servants, slaves it felt like.

"Those are mine." He sneered as he snatched the books out of the young man's hands so fast, he might have been cut by the loose papers.

The man stared at him, wide-eyed. "You can read?" He asked questioningly. "And I'm assuming you can't." He said, backing away from the boy. He nodded shamefully.

"You will forget everything you saw here tonight, do you understand?" The man said menacingly, tucking the thin books under his arm. The young man, already frightened by him, nodded quickly. The other man nodded slowly and walked away.

The young man watched as the other walked away. He had so many questions, yet he should have to keep his silence.

Before the man could leave the room completely, however, he turned around to face the young man once again.

"What's your name?" He asked from a distance. The young man gulped before responding. "Malich." The boy replied. The man looked away and nodded, seemingly approving the name.

"You see, Malich," He started, taking one of the books out from underneath his arm. He lifted it up so the boy could see from the distance in the dark. "Even if you can read or not, the fact that you know that these even exist is very bad for me, and we can't have that." He said, putting the book away.

The boy was going to respond but found that he couldn't. He tried to move, and he couldn't do that also.

He looked at the man, and he was sure he was seeing things, but the man's eyes looked as if they were glowing purple. He had heard about this. He was in sure trouble!

"I really wish it didn't have to be this way, Malich," the man said, and the boy felt something in the back of his mind. And it was burning. The boy cried out. It burned and burned and he kept crying out until it became a guttural screaming. The boy knew what the man was doing, and it hurt with such enormity. Nothing could help him though. All of this because he happened to stumble across a forgotten book.

With a final scream of agony, the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

The man's eyes returned to their normal color, and he looked at the body in the distant dark. He glanced back at the book in his hand and smirked.

A whistling tune carried down the moonlit hallways as he left.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been about 2 weeks since she returned to the Doctor from Pete’s World, and Rose was beginning to get restless. 

She loved him, and she was so delighted to be back with him after almost a year and a half of being without him, but they had just been sitting around for 2 weeks. She got that he was nervous that he would lose her again, and of course that was the last thing she wanted, but it was incredibly boring. Read in the library, go for a swim, eat some chips in the galley; it was all very domestic. And if there was one thing that they didn’t do, it was domestic. 

So today, she decided, would be the day she would confront him about this. She would never leave him, not now, not ever. But she was getting bored, and she wondered when they could get back to having adventures together. 

She found him in the library after she woke the next day. His face was buried in a book that she could only describe as massive. He seemed to be about halfway through, but she guessed it wouldn’t stay that way for long. He was flipping the pages so fast she wondered if he’d even bothered to read a sentence of the page. 

She didn’t want to interrupt him, but she had to know if they were going to be doing anything interesting soon. She didn’t know if she could stand all of this… stalling. This was stalling. He was stalling. Stalling for what she hadn’t the faintest idea, but it was for a reason. With him, there was always a reason. Even a reason for stalling. 

“Um… Doctor?” She said quietly, not wanting to scare him. He obviously didn’t hear her entering the room. 

He looked up from his book, and a grin spread across his face when he saw her. 

“Rose Tyler, to what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked playfully as he set the huge book down on a nearby table. 

She tugged nervously at the hem of her vest top which she wore to bed the night previous. “I… um… I was just wondering… when are we going to do something?” She asked nervously. 

“Like, as in, go on adventures like we used to?” He asked her, standing up from his chair and walked over to her. 

“Well, yeah, I suppose. It’s just… it’s been about 2 weeks since I got back, and I understand that you’re nervous to do much of anything, it’s just that… I just wanted things to go back to normal. Like how they were before I, uh, left.” She said, a nervous wreck. 

He nodded slowly. “Right, of course, what did you have in mind?” He asked her. 

She looked up at the ceiling, thinking about what she wanted to do. What had she always wanted to see, to experience? She had the whole of time and space at her disposal. 

“Um… I’m not sure… how about the Middle Ages?” She asked. “The Middle Ages? You do know that that point in time was a very low point in human history?” He questioned, arching an eyebrow. 

“Okay, well… how about the Middle Ages, on another planet?” She asked. Slowly, a grin spread across his face once again. He had the perfect place to take her. 

“Sounds brilliant! Go get dressed, I’ll take us there.” He said with a wink before dashing in the direction of the console room. 

She grinned as she rushed out of the room behind him, watching him run down the endless hallways. She laughed in ran in the opposite direction towards her room. She was finally going somewhere again! 

She was dressed and in the console room minutes later, not wanting to waste any time with getting on with it. She wasn’t quite sure what to wear, but figured it wouldn’t really matter. The Doctor probably wasn’t going to change into something that fit the era, so why should we? It didn’t really affect anything anyways. If she really needed to change, the locals would see to that, she was sure. 

She rushed into the console room as the Doctor pulled some sort of lever down, sending the ship lurching roughly to the left. She laughed as she quickly found something to grab on to before she lost her balance and fell. 

The ship returned to it’s upright position and she made her way to the middle of the room. 

“So, where are we going?” She asked, not able to contain her excitement. “Jawadi, an earth-like planet in the middle of the Aarumira system. More specifically, a nice, small village that- I believe- goes by the name of Aephaera. You’ll love it.” He sent her a grin and pressed several more buttons. 

With one final lurch of the ship, the movement stopped, signalling their landing. It was smoother than most times, which was a good sign. At least, Rose hoped it was a good sign. 

They both walked towards the door, the Doctor grabbing his coat which hung from a coral beam. There was no hesitation with opening the door to see what sort of world waiting for them. 

As soon as they opened the doors, it seemed that spears made of rock, string and thin wood greeted them. Oh, and the yelling. 

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” A sharp voice with a thick accent which Rose couldn’t place yelled at them, jabbing their spears at them. 

They put their hands up in surrender, to show that they weren’t armed. The Doctor figured that some explaining on their behalf would be beneficial for everyone at the moment. 

“Well, this- “

“Silence!” The warrior closest to him hissed and jabbed his arm with her spear harshly. “Ow, what was that for?” He exclaimed, bring his other hand up to his arm in a gesture of pain. 

“We said, silence.” The warrior repeated. The Doctor didn’t feel like getting jabbed in the arm again, so he complied. He assumed that Rose would have to do the explaining for now. 

Rose didn’t catch on as quickly as he would have hoped, though. She waited for the Doctor to start explaining themselves and getting them out of an execution, as usual. She then noticed that all the warriors were looking at her, expecting something. That was when she realized she would be doing the explaining. 

“Oh, sorry, I’m Rose Tyler, and this is the Doctor.” She said gesturing to him. He gave a small wave and a smile from beside her. 

“Where are you from?” Another one asked from her left. Now that would be harder to explain. 

“Oh, y’know… here and there…” Rose trailed off, not wanting to explain any further. Thankfully she didn’t have to. 

“What is this… box?” One of them said, gently poking the TARDIS with her spear. “Oh, this is the TARDIS. It’s our… transportation.” She said calmly. The Doctor inwardly awarded her for not giving away any vital information. He didn’t really want to know what would happen if she did. 

“And… it just appears out of nowhere?” Another asked. Rose nodded. “Yeah, it tends to do that, yeah.” She said awkwardly, wringing her hands together behind her back. 

“Sorcery.” One sneered. 

“Witchcraft!” another agreed. 

“Wait! No! We’re not… we’re completely human and we bring no harm!” Rose said frantically when she heard what they were saying. She remembered learning about the middle ages and what they believed. If they found evidence of witchcraft… the person would be burned. She didn’t know how to get herself and the Doctor (who was being of no help at the moment) out of a painful execution. 

“And why should we believe you?” One right in front of her asked, a nasty glare matching her tone. Rose was lost there. She had a point. They had no reason to believe them. 

“They should be taken to the Queen.” Someone said from the very back. Everyone looked behind them to see who spoke. 

She didn’t look like the others. She didn’t have the leather headbands the others did, nor was she dressed like a warrior. A velvet green dress, strings pulling the top together, and flaming red hair to match met the Doctor and Rose with a strong voice. Even her accent sounded different. 

“And why should we do that? If they really are demons we shouldn’t put our Queen at risk!” The one in front of Rose yelled at her, obviously trying to take command. 

“She wants everyone to have a fair trial in the country, surely you know that, Chievdar. And I don’t think she really wants to set up an execution as time-consuming as burning at the stake without a good reason. Let the Queen decide if these two are to die.” The redhead stated proudly, wiping dirt off her hands onto her dress. 

The others murmured in agreement. The woman in front of Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. “If you all insist. Bring them to the castle. Make sure they are watched.” She commanded, and made her way away from them, obviously wanting to lead the band of warriors to their destination. 

Two warriors pushed the Doctor and Rose away from the TARDIS, making them walk with them to the ‘castle’. 

The redheaded woman was already walking away from them before Rose had a chance to thank her. If they made it past their Queen’s judgement, she would have to find her again. 

“The Queen? You said this area was just a small village. Last time I checked, small villages didn’t have Queens governing them.” Rose pointed out. “Which is why I’m worried. I may have accidently landed a couple years off.” He explained. 

Rose gave him a look. 

“Okay fine, maybe a couple centuries off, but time is relative, isn’t it?” 

All she did was arch an eyebrow for a response. 

“I’m sorry?” 

She just rolled her eyes and smiled softly. 

The walked up and down grassy hills on top of cliffs looking off to the sea to their destination, though Rose didn’t get to see all of the sights. That would be mostly due to the fact that they were surrounded by tall warriors that had no intent on giving them much of any free room to roam around a bit. Apparently, they were dangerous.

The Doctor, on the other hand, was taller than them, at least just by a bit, and could see everything perfectly. She inwardly cursed her shorter height, though she was never really short to begin with. By the contented look on his face, the view was spectacular. The Doctor had seen everything before, so seeing something new for him was a rare thing. This appeared to be one of those things. 

They didn’t really do much of anything for the next half an hour. Rose wanted to talk to him. Questions that came up as they walked. But she didn’t want to ask them with others around. They were too personal for mere strangers to hear. So, they walked in silence, awaiting the arrival of their final destination. 

“Ah, wonderful! There it is Rose! The great Aephaera. It is still called Aephaera, right?” He asked one of the guards, but she simply ignored him. 

“Oi!” She snapped, getting the girl’s attention. She turned her gaze away from the city (which Rose couldn’t see) to see what Rose needed. 

“You can listen and answer to whatever he has to say, got it?” She snapped at the girl. And she nodded. 

A few moments of silence passed before Rose became even more irritated. 

“You can answer his question now.” She said, swiping a strand of blonde hair from her face. 

“Aye, it is still called Aephaera, sir. Queen Amphitrite has ruled over this grand city for all her life, and done a fine job at it too.” She said, smiling with pride. Rose guessed she added extra information as to answer all unsaid questions before they were asked. 

The Doctor nodded in approval. 

“How long until we get there?” Rose asked him. “Oh, I don’t know, half an hour… give or take.” He guessed. 

Rose nodded. Another half an hour of walking. She could do that. She couldn’t wait to see the city, and the views which she guessed were spectacular. That is, if the Queen decided not to kill them. At least, kill her. They couldn’t really kill the Doctor, could they?

She hoped that the Queen was merciful enough, or that she bought whatever story they came up with to get themselves out of this situation.


	3. Chapter 3

As it turns out, the city was sodding beautiful. 

Rose eventually got the view she had been waiting for as they neared their final destination. It was absolutely gorgeous! She tried (and failed) to not gawk at the palace. But it was so amazing. She’d never seen anything like it before, nor would she see anything like it again, she though. 

The main palace was located on the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast sea full of alien creatures she’d never seen before. Sunlight shone onto the palace and the vast city below it. 

The palace itself was an architectural wonder. It was tall and grand, and extremely intricate in it’s design. Its basic design was dark brick, giving it the appearance of it being a dark tower. Surrounding the city was a wall, at least 100 feet high. There was a metal drawbridge that was ginormous. According to the warriors that were leading them there, it was the only way to get into the city by ground. There was a rapid river surrounding the wall, leading into a waterfall on either side. Whomever decided to break into the city would not get past the moat. 

The Doctor noticed Rose taking it all in, and couldn’t help but stare. He had missed her more than anything for the past year and a half, and now that she was back with him, he was not going to take any moment with her for granted. 

“What do you think? Good enough for our… well our first adventure?” He asked her. She pulled her gaze away from the city to look with him, grinning from ear to ear. 

“So far it’s been bloody fantastic! I mean, look at that view! I’d never seen anything like it before.” She said, her voice full of awe and appreciation. He couldn’t help but grin with her. She was right, the city was beautiful. 

Not long after this they got to the drawbridge, which was lowered at an unexpectedly slow pace. As soon as the drawbridge was lowered, Rose was surprised to see at least 100 men lowering chains and ropes and pulling levers to lower and raise the drawbridge. She didn’t know what exactly she was expecting, but it wasn’t 100 men to lift and lower the thing. The warriors were right. No one was getting in or out if need be. 

The crossed the heavy drawbridge, the water roaring below them. Rose couldn’t help but stare at it. She did not want to fall into there any time soon. 

Then the entered the great city of Aephaera. 

The city that greeted them inside Rose couldn’t describe as anything other than joyful. There was music of the fiddle and flute singing a cheerful tune in the air, and children’s laughter accompanied it. There were vendors decorated with scarves and banners of every vibrant color, selling food, drink, jewelry, anything you could want. Everyone was smiling and laughing, most of the women dancing with their husbands in the street to the music. 

The people parted away from the stoned pathway leading up to the palace stationed in what seemed to be the middle of the city. The warriors yelled at others to move, and they did so gleefully. Everyone seemed so happy. 

But, now that the warriors were yelling at them to move, everyone was staring. 

The blonde girl wearing trousers? Rose could swear she heard whispers about the Doctor as well, but she could feel they were centered towards her, mostly. She crossed her arms self consciously, ducking her head down trying to hide from their judging gaze. 

The Doctor did not miss any of this. 

He held out his hand to her, maybe out of a comforting gesture. Rose noticed and looked up to him skeptically. He only smiled at her. She smiled back and took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers together. Both of them smiled at the contact, and continued in their journey to the palace, where they would meet the obviously infamous Queen Amphitrite. 

They walked in silence as they neared the palace. Rose was definitely enjoying herself on this trip so far, but she couldn’t help but show the anxiety on her face as they neared their destination. 

“What’s wrong?” The Doctor asked her, squeezing her hand for reassurance. She let out a small smile. “What if the Queen doesn’t believe us? What if she actually thinks that we’re… oh, I don’t know… demons and decides to burn us anyways?” She voiced nervously. 

“Oh, you know us. We’ve been sentenced to life long prison sentences, and tons of executions before, and we’re still here now. We’ll get out of it, if she chooses to execute us, that is. Besides, you seem to forget, I’m extremely clever. And I don’t think she will sentence us to death an all that anyway.” The Doctor said. 

“You don’t? How can you be sure of that?” Rose asked, genuinely curious. 

“Well, all the people here seem to be in her favor, or maybe that’s because she scares all the people into submission, but I don’t think that’s it. She sounds kind enough.” 

Rose quirked an eyebrow at that. “Does she now.” She said, a statement rather than a question. “Well… so far, I suppose.” Rose only smiled in response. 

It wasn’t long after their short conversation that they came to the palace doors. 

They were massive in themselves, and Rose couldn’t wait to see what waited for her on the other side. 

The warriors opened the heavy wooden doors, and led the two of them inside.

Rose tried, and failed, to not gape at it. Surely it had to have some sort of Jawadian technology, how magnificent it was. 

Even the Doctor had to admit, it was fairly impressive. And he’d seen a lot in his time. 

“Welcome to Aephaera.” The commanding warrior told them, leading them deeper into the foyer of what was obviously the huge palace. 

Both the Doctor and Rose were awestruck. 

“Wow.” Was all the Doctor could muster as he looked at the interior architecture, stuffing his free hand in his coat pocket. Rose didn’t have any words at all. 

The ceiling must have been at least 50 feet high, maybe 60. It was all painted black, giving it a gothic appearance, but it was simply beautiful. High arches made the pillars up to the ceiling, and a glass ceiling was the main source of light on this sunny day. On the walls and pillars were torches about 5 and a half feet from the ground, each lit ablaze. There seemed to be thousands of hallways from this one leading to other places in palace, and servants, warriors and other were rushing in and out of these hallways. 

At the very end of the vast foyer was a double staircase made of a metal that resembled silver, and at the top balcony were three other hallways. The one straight across had wooden double doors resembling the entrance, and to the left and right were other hallways leading to other places. 

If they were allowed to live after meeting this Queen, Rose hoped they were allowed a full tour of the palace. 

Several of the warrior women dispersed with the others into different hallways, each having their own tasks to attend to. The commanding warrior and the girl who gave them information before were the only two who’d stayed. 

The Doctor looked to Rose to see her reaction, and was pleased to see she was fully taking in the surroundings. 

“What do you think?” He asked her. “I- I don’t have the words. You picked one hell of a place to start, here!” She smiled. 

“Do you like it then?” He asked her carefully. He didn’t really know anywhere else to take her that fit this category so perfectly. He wouldn’t know what to do if she didn’t like it. 

“Of course, I like it! I love it, Doctor, thank you! I missed this so much.” She told him, able to tear her gaze away from the architecture for a minute. 

He grinned at that. She’d missed him! She’d missed travelling with him, being with him. Oh, how he wished he could show her how much he’d missed her. 

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” The one girl told them, slowing down to walk beside them, leaving the commander alone. 

“Amazing? It’s spectacular, it’s- it’s, oh, I don’t even have the words!” Rose spoke up first. The girl smiled. “I know. Every time I see it, I’m still awestruck. And I’ve lived in this palace for 150 years!” The girl laughed. 

Rose looked confused, but showed the Doctor her confusion rather than the girl. She could only be around Rose’s age, maybe younger. There was no way she could be 150 years old, maybe older. 

Thankfully, the Doctor picked up on this. “They have longer life-spans than humans, and can breathe underwater.” He whispered to her, as to not let the girl become offended by not knowing her species. Rose nodded. Of course, on a different planet there were bound to be different beings. 

“I’m Arya, and that’s Calantha up there.” She said, pointing up to the commander in front of them. “She’s a bit high-strung, but she’s alright when she’s not in uniform. She tends to be more commanding when people recognize her.” Arya explained. 

Rose nodded. That would explain why she was so commanding and harsh when they met at the TARDIS. 

“How big is the city?” The Doctor asked, looking around Rose so he could see Arya better. “Um, I think it’s 1 or 2 Jawadian Miles wide in both directions, I think.” She told him, seeming unsure. The Doctor nodded in understanding. The city was incredibly large. More so than he’d thought. 

Rose was unsure what a Jawadian Mile was. “It’s about triple the size of London.” The Doctor quickly explained, quietly. Arya surely would have no idea what London was. Rose’s eyes widened. This city was much larger than she thought it would be. That meant they’d have a vast population as well. 

“But, that means you’d have a lot of people living here.” Rose said. Arya almost laughed. “No, we actually don’t have that many. Only half of the city has the citizens. The other half is for our pets.” She told us, a smile on her face. 

“Pets? What kind of pets do you have that would take up half a city?” The Doctor asked, suddenly curious. 

Arya’s eyebrows raised considerably with surprise. “Blimey, you two really must be from far away. Surely you know.” She said incredulously. 

Both the Doctor and Rose shook their heads. 

Arya huffed out a breath and mumbled something inaudible under her breath. “Well, you’d be pleased to know that, as pets, we have- “

“Arya! Up with me!” Calantha yelled to her from behind her, now taking notice that Arya wasn’t walking with her. 

“I’ll tell you later.” Arya smiled before hurrying up to her superior’s side. 

Rose looked up to the Doctor. “What about you? Do you have any idea what these ‘pets’ are?” She asked him. If anyone else here were to know, it was bound to be him. 

He just shook his head. “No idea. Brilliant, isn’t it!” He grinned. 

They were lead up the stairs and through the wooden double doors… into what seemed to be a throne room. At the end, with stained glass at the far wall making some sort of angelic picture, was the most uncomfortable looking throne Rose had ever seen. Sure, it was magnificent, but it was made of rocks and pebbles of all sorts, giving it a very rustic look. It can’t be much fun to sit in for a while, though. 

Calantha and Arya lead them up to about 15 feet away from said throne, and there was one young boy standing at the base of it, the throne having been elevated a few steps upwards from the stoned floor. 

“You there! Boy!” Calantha yelled at him. The boy apparently was snoozing peacefully, but was jolted awake at the sound of her sharp voice. He jumped up and ran in front of   
Calantha to face her. The boy couldn’t be older than 10, had shaggy uncut hair and a couple dirt smudges on his face. 

“Yes ma’am! What can I do for you ma’am?” He asked. 

“Fetch her Majesty. There is an urgent matter she must attend to in the throne room. Tell her that the Chievdar sent for her.” Calantha ordered. 

The boy barely mumbled a ‘yes ma’am,’ before he ran out of the room into a hallway to his left. 

All four of them waited in silence for the infamous Queen Amphitrite to arrive. 

About 5 minutes later, a voice could be heard from down the hall to their left, followed by light footsteps. 

“I hope you have a good reason for summoning me, Chievdar.” The voice called from down the hallway. Moments later, the voice’s identity was clearly identified as the Queen, as she had entered the room. 

“My Lady.” Calantha greeted her with a low bow, Arya followed. The Doctor and Rose just watched as she took her seat on the uncomfortable throne. 

She had long blonde hair, reaching to about her hips when it wasn’t tied up. A flimsy, yet regal, dress was what she was adorned in, and a majestic crown set upon the crown of her head. She was beautiful, but obviously worn out and stressed. Rose guessed that being Queen could be rather stressful. The bags under her eyes were not there without reason. 

“What is it now, Calantha?” The Queen asked, resting her cheek on her left hand, appearing bored with the very presence of her. 

“These two, your Majesty, appeared out of nowhere, obviously the work of witchcraft, and should be burned for their crimes of practicing the dark art!” Calantha said strongly, pointing on finger back at them, but not bothering to turn her gaze as she did so. 

“And how do you know that these two are guilty of practicing witchcraft?” The Queen asked, acting like she’d said the same words over a million times. It seemed like this was not the first case of witchcraft Calantha had brought in to be judged by the Queen. 

That question seemed to get Calantha. She didn’t really have any evidence that the Doctor and Rose were demons, but seemed to believe so more than anything. 

“Well, your Majesty, they- uh- they appeared out of thin air! Right in front of my eyes! This one saw it to!” She nudged Arya’s shoulder with her own. Regretfully, Arya nodded in confirmation. 

“Them and they’re blue box! They came out of a blue box which appeared out of nowhere. Now if that isn’t witchcraft, I don’t know what is.” 

The Queen looked past Calantha and Arya in favor of looking upon the Doctor and Rose. 

“Are you sure that they’re blue box wasn’t just a mode of transportation? I’ve heard that villages from the South tend to have transportation of the like.” The Queen asked. 

“Well, I mean, they’re dangerous!” Calantha sputtered. The Queen simply rolled her eyes. “They are nothing more than travellers. You and Arya a dismissed.” The Queen said, getting up from her throne. 

Calantha clenched and unclenched her fists several times before storming out of the room in a rage. 

The Queen looked to Arya. “It was Gaelys who sent them to me, wasn’t it?” She asked, a statement rather than a question. Arya nodded. 

The Queen sighed and rolled her eyes. “Go tell her to stick her fist up her arse and not to send any more silly trials to me again, understand?” 

Arya smiled and nodded, running off out of the room, clearly pleased with her new assignment. 

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other. “Well that was rather over climatic. Shall we go then?” He grinned. 

Rose was about to reply when she was interrupted. 

“You two, I never said you were dismissed.” The Queen told them from behind them. They both turned around, hands still interlocked. 

She was already at the entrance of the hallway to the left from which she came. 

“Blondie, come with me. And bring your servant as well.” She said before disappearing into the hallway. 

“Servant? Do I really look like a servant?” The Doctor squeaked. Rose only shrugged. “I think it’s just the custom here. I’ll tell them that you’re not a servant, if it makes you feel better.” 

Rose and the Doctor followed the Queen down the hallway, catching up to walk by her side. 

“What are your names?” She asked before either the Doctor or Rose could address her properly. Maybe she wasn’t one for stiff tradition. 

“I’m the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler, your Majesty.” The Doctor introduced. The Queen nodded in approval. 

“I have a question for you two. Was Calantha’s claim correct? Are you two actually demons?” She asked. Rose could only assume that she didn’t think they were merely travellers. “I can assure you, Your Majesty, we are not demons of any sort.” The Doctor assured her. 

She slowed to a stop about halfway down the hallway to look them in the face. 

“Then where did you come from? Why are you here?” She asked. 

“We’re just travellers, Your Majesty. We’d heard of the grand city of Aephaera and felt the urge to explore it for ourselves.” Rose explained, keeping as close to the truth as possible, without hinting any facts that they were from the future… and another planet. 

 

“And your ‘blue box’?” 

“Merely our transportation, as you guessed.” 

The Queen nodded, and gestured to a guard at the end of the hallway. She came running to the Queen, ready for any command she was to receive. 

“Gather a couple more girls and go about an hour south from here, and collect a ‘blue box’. You are to bring it back here. And send for Gaelys, but give her no reason. Tell her to meet the Doctor and Rose Tyler on the balcony.” She commanded. The young girl nodded and ran off down the hallway towards the throne room. 

She turned back to the Doctor and Rose. “You two are welcome to stay, but I would like to question you further tonight at dinner, if you can make it.” She said with a warm smile, started to walk to the end of the hallway again. 

“My friend, Gaelys, will take you for a tour around the palace, and the city if you wish. I would myself, but I have urgent matter to attend to.” She told them, coming to the end of the hallway, leading into another large room, sunlight pouring into the room. 

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Rose smiled at her, the Doctor following her gesture. With that, the Queen ducked into another room, leaving the Doctor and Rose on what seemed to be the ‘balcony’. 

The name of the room was understandable, since it had the best view of the landscape in the palace. Rose shamelessly admired all of it. She might not see anything like it in a while, so she was determined to memorize every bit of it until she did. 

“You’ve never been here before, have you?” She asked the Doctor. 

“Not in this time. I’ve been to Aephaera before, but back then it was just a small village, maybe only 200 people living there. Nothing on this scale.” He told her, looking over at the landscape himself. He didn’t remember it looking like it did the last time he visited. Maybe he just hadn’t paid much attention to it. He was a different man last time he was here. 

A few minutes more of aimless conversation about what each other did when they were… separated was suddenly brought to a halt when a familiar strong voice interrupted. 

In came the red-head whom they’d seen before at their TARDIS. 

“Spared from the stake, I see.” She smirked and walked towards them. Rose grinned. This was the woman who’d saved their lives. 

“Thanks for what you did back there. I can’t imagine what the Chievdar would have done if you hadn’t interrupted.” Rose told her. Gaelys only waved it off, like it was nothing. “Oh, you needn’t worry about her. Calantha’s all bark and no bite. She needs to get permission from the Queen- or at least the Viceregent- before performing any form of execution anyways. I was just there to tell her off.” She shrugged. 

“Well, we thank you anyway.” Rose smiled at her, trying her best to make a good first impression. 

“Anyway!” The Doctor said, drawing the word out, clapping his hands together before taking his spot beside Rose. “Let’s get to the tour, shall we? I can’t wait to see the city.” He grinned. 

Gaelys stared at him for longer than what was considered comfortable. Both the Doctor and Rose waited in an uncomfortable silence. Gaelys looked the Doctor up and down, and nodded in approval when done. She turned to Rose.

“Yes, of course, the tour! Please follow me.” She said all of a sudden, almost making Rose jump. 

Gaelys threw a wink at the Doctor, and started down an unfamiliar hallway. 

Before they followed, however, Rose couldn’t resist possessively gripped his hand in hers. She told herself she was just nervous and not at all jealous of the way Gaelys just checked him out (and how she approved made it worse) and shouldn’t everyone know that they were a thing even though he’d never really agreed to that?

Oh, she was being utterly ridiculous. 

That didn’t mean she had to let go of his hand though.

The Doctor, noticing all of this, decided not to draw any attention out of it. He just smiled to himself, seeing Rose jealous that someone else might be interested, and continued down the hallway into which Gaelys had just disappeared into. He knew she would let them catch up if they were a bit behind. 

Gaelys gave them a lengthy tour of the palace. She showed them where they would be staying, where the Mess Hall was, and the most impressive armoury. The hole thing in itself was glorious in every aspect, and Rose felt herself falling more and more in love with Aephaera by the minute, and she hadn’t even had a proper tour of the city yet, it was only the palace. She couldn’t imagine how much she would love the city. 

They neared the final stop of the palace tour in the east wing, overlooking the waterfalls and the cliffsides overlooking the vast ocean. 

They came to a big wooden door with strange carvings in a language Rose couldn’t read. Gaelys smiled and guided them towards the door, obviously excited to show them this   
room. 

She opened the door and led them inside, but the room itself was nothing special compared to everything else they’d seen in the past hour or two. It was long, as expected, and had a large balcony at the end with no railing. 

They walked towards the railing-less balcony, Gaelys animatedly narrating what she was about to see. 

“This room is dedicated to our pets, you could say,” she started. That peaked Rose’s interest. She remembered Arya saying something with great pride about they’re pets, and ever since she’d been curious about what they really were. 

“Kariye Malia, they’re officially called, translating directly into ‘winged reptile’,” She added. The Doctor grinned brightly. He now knew exactly what these ‘pets’ were. He couldn’t wait to see Rose’s reaction to them. She’d definitely never seen anything like them before. 

In front of them, there were shadows crossing the balcony. It looked like ginormous birds were flying over the palace, but Rose knew that they weren’t exactly birds. And from the clues that Gaelys was giving them, them being ‘winged reptiles’ were giving Rose ideas about what these ‘pets’ were. She had an idea which was a pretty good guess. 

She looked up to the Doctor for confirmation. “No way.” She grinned, and he just beamed at her, continuing their walk to reveal. 

“But here in Aephaera, we prefer the Northern term…” she built up as she led then outside. Rose could hardly contain her excitement, grabbing the Doctor’s arm in anticipation. 

“Dragons!” Gaelys finished as they stepped outside onto the ginormous, rail-less balcony, and was immediately swarmed with scales, noises, steam and dragons. Actual, live dragons!

Rose covered her mouth as she gasped at the sight of them, dancing on the air, calling to each other in noises she could only describe as fantasy-like.

There were at least 15 around them now, swirling in the air leisurely. They were in all different shapes and sizes, their scales all different shades of red, blue, and green. One or two puffed small sparks into the air at another in a friendly competition. They were the most beautiful creatures Rose had ever seen. 

“This is unbelievable!” Rose exclaimed as one of the bigger dragons landed on the platform about 15 feet away from her. Gaelys smiled as a dark-skinned warrior jumped down from the dragon’s back, obviously being the rider. 

The woman grinned seeing Gaelys, and walked towards her. 

“Gaelys, my friend, it’s been too long! What brings you here?” She asked Gaelys. Gaelys pointed the Doctor and Rose, whom were behind her from where they were standing. “Two foreigners came, and I was just finished their tour of the palace. I figured I’d save the best for last.” She smiled. 

The dark-skinned woman turned to their direction, a beaming smile still lighting her face. “Welcome to Aephaera! How do you like it so far?” she asked. 

“Oh, it’s been fantastic so far. Your city is absolutely beautiful.” The Doctor responded, seeing that Rose was too preoccupied with the dragon who’d seemed to take a liking to her   
to respond.

“His name’s Khulan.” The woman smiled. The dragon inched towards Rose some more, almost pleading Rose to pet him. She looked back at the woman. “May I?” She asked. 

“If he let’s you, it’s a good sign. Of course, you may.” She nodded. 

Somehow, Rose’s grin grew, and she immediately held out her hand to pet the dragon’s scales gently. He growled in what seemed to be happiness as she pet him, and she giggled at the action. 

The dragon had to be at least twice Rose’s size, and that was just his head. The rest of him was just so grand and huge. He was magnificent. 

She grinned and looked back at the Doctor, wanting to see his reaction. To her joy, he seemed to be pleased with everything that had happened so far. It wasn’t so bad for a first trip back, Rose supposed. 

“It seems I’ve made a new friend, Doctor.” She grinned mischievously. He grinned in response. “It seems you have.”

The woman came over to Rose and the dragon. “He seems to really like you. You can take him out for a ride, if you want.” She suggested, and Rose almost jumped in excitement at the thought. Riding a dragon hundreds of feet in the air? Over such a beautiful city? 

“You’re kidding.” She said unbelievably. The woman smiled. “If you want to ride him, I’m sure he’d be happy to take you for an adventure.” The woman assured her. Rose’s grin must have gotten at least double the size it was before, almost from ear to ear. The only thing was, she didn’t know how to fly a dragon, and would probably fall off, and possibly die. 

“Rose, I don’t know if that’s safe, really.” The Doctor voiced from behind her. “Since when have you really cared about safety, Doctor? Really?” She asked sarcastically, glancing back at him. “Since I lost you.” He retorted. 

Rose didn’t really know what to say to that. So that was why they didn’t leave the TARDIS for a while after she got back. He was worried about her. She couldn’t say that she didn’t appreciate the gesture, no matter how ridiculous it could be. 

Rose turned away from the dragon to face the three people behind her. “Well then, someone will have to ride with me. And, I don’t really know how to fly a dragon in the first place.” She laughed gently. 

“I can’t, I’m sorry. I have to take care of everyone else,” the dragon woman said disappointingly, gesturing to the rest of the dragons in the air. “I’m sure you can find someone else to take you.” She suggested. 

Crossing the woman out of her list, Rose turned to Gaelys next, who was standing right next to the woman. 

She only shrugged. “I haven’t flown in years, I’m not quite sure how to do it anymore. I’m sorry.” She said, trying her best to put on fake remorse, but failing. 

She glanced at the Doctor as a last resort, a pleading look in her eyes. 

He understood quite quickly what she wanted. 

“Rose, no, I- “

“Oh, come on Doctor! You said you would take me on an adventure, and riding a bloody dragon would definitely be part of it!”

“But- “

“And you would be right there to make sure I was all safe and okay! And with you being concerned about ‘safety’ all of a sudden, you would probably make sure that the ride wasn’t too dangerous.”

“Rose- “

“And this is a one-in-a-lifetime chance, Doctor! When am I ever going to get the chance to ride a dragon again?” 

“No, Rose, listen to me- “

“And I promise that I’ll be safe the rest of the trip, and we can do whatever you’d like afterwards. I don’t care what we do even after we leave! I will owe you for this for the rest of my life, I swear.”

“I- “

“And don’t say that you don’t know how because you probably do, you and your big Time Lord brain. You said you’ve been here before a long time ago, and I reckon that they had dragons a long time ago, therefore you have probably ridden one before!”

“That’s not what I was going to- “

“I mean, it’s probably not any harder than riding a huge horse, right?” 

Rose beamed at him, hoping that all of what she said was enough to convince him to ride with her. 

He didn’t have anything to say after she’d finally stopped ranting about it, her having shut down every single protest he would have voiced to her. And she was right about it. All of it. And the way she was looking at him… blimey this woman would be the death of him. 

“Please Doctor?” She asked sweetly. 

After a few moments of consideration, he finally gave in. “Oh, alright, I give up.” He sighed in defeat. 

Rose couldn’t believe it. She’d actually gotten him to agree to riding with her! Never in a million years had she actually expected that to work.

Her grin grew as he walked over to her and the dragon. 

“There are a few things you should know, first.” The woman told them. “They don’t wear saddles, so you’ll have to hang on tight. If you do fall, try to aim for the water. 

“They do have reigns, but don’t like to be controlled as much. Don’t try and control where Khulan goes, but go with him. Otherwise, he’ll rebel, and you’ll end up falling.” 

The Doctor listened to her instructions, mostly because he knew that Rose wasn’t listening. 

She couldn’t actually believe it. She was going to riding a sodding dragon. That was definitely not an everyday activity for her. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, although she knew perfectly well that if she wanted to, the Doctor would take her again to do what she wanted. 

After the woman was finished explaining, the Doctor had a grasp as to what to do and how to do it for flying a dragon. 

First, he helped Rose up onto it’s back, and the creature hummed in excitement. Rose petted the scales on its back while grinning widely. “Me too.” She mumbled to the majestic beast. 

Somehow the Doctor got himself up onto it’s back, in front of Rose so he could handle the reigns properly. She wrapped her arms around his torso so she could hang on better. 

The dragon walked to the edge of the balcony, stretching out his enormous wings, as if preparing to take flight. Rose couldn’t say that she wasn’t nervous, and she knew she had no reason to be. If the Doctor was there with her, she knew she would be relatively safe. 

“Allons-y!” The Doctor called out before taking off, making Rose smile. Seconds later, they were off the balcony to the palace and in the air. The edge of the palace with the balcony was hanging off a cliffside, the deep ocean below, with numerous caves underneath. Rose could see it all now. 

It was almost like being in an aeroplane but with no enclosures to prevent the wind and the cold from seeping underneath your skin and chilling you through and through. 

The wind whipped Rose’s hair in her face, and she had to keep brushing it away from her eyes so she could see the land properly. She cursed herself earlier for not putting her hair in a pony tail. She couldn’t do so now. 

The sight above the palace and the city was simply magnificent. It gave everything more perspective, now being a couple hundred feet in the air. The sun was starting to set in the west, the fiery ball dipping below into the ocean. Colors of gold, purple, pink and blue painted the sky and the reflective water beautifully, and Rose knew that she’d chosen the perfect time to go into the sky. 

Although, it was extremely cold, more so than she would have thought. 

Involuntarily, she shivered as the harsh breeze of the wind bit at her. She hoped that the Doctor hadn’t noticed. 

Unfortunately for her, he did notice. And for some reason, he took this action as something being wrong. Was she okay? Maybe she was afraid of something this high up. Anyone would be, he reasoned. He counted at least 1000 feet above sea level now. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. 

“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly to her. She almost laughed at the tone in his voice. 

“I have never been better, Doctor. M’just cold, that’s all. I didn’t think it’d be this cold up here.” She explained. He sighed in relief, glad that nothing was wrong, and she was enjoying this as much as he was, although he wouldn’t admit it out loud. 

“Thank you.” Rose told him quietly, knowing that he needed to hear it from her. She reached over, despite the wind, and kissed him on the cheek, in thankfulness. He, on the other hand, was slightly shocked. He’d have to repay her someday for that. 

As exciting as riding a dragon was, it was going rather slow, the Doctor observed. Nothing like the fast-paced adventures they used to have- like he wished they could still have.   
An idea came to him as to how to make this more interesting, but he needed to know if she was okay with all this first. 

“Rose?”

“Yeah, Doctor?”

“You trust me, right?”

“Of course, I trust you. Why wouldn’t I?”

He grinned mischievously, though she couldn’t see it. What she said basically validated his idea. 

“Hold on!” He shouted so she could hear, for it was about to get noisier than it already was. He gripped the reigns tighter, preparing. 

The dragon somehow seemed to sense what this ‘excitement’ included, and was more than willing to go along with it. 

Before Rose had any chance to question him, the dragon swooped down at an immeasurable speed towards the water, straight down. The air rushed around them, and Rose hardly had time to decipher anything that was going on. Everything was going so fast all of a sudden! 

She screamed and clung closer to the Doctor, almost out of fear, and he only laughed. 

They stopped going straight down when they got to the water, about a foot away. They were so close to the water that Rose could have reached down and run her hand through the ocean. Of course, she wasn’t going to do so at their current speed, but it was a nice thing to think about. 

Rose looked over the Doctor’s shoulder and saw that they were headed straight for what seemed to be giant mountainous, spiky rocks that could easily impale anyone who had the misfortune of falling on one. They were rather close together, and there was a thick fog rising up from the water from almost to the top of the rocks. 

“Uh, Doctor, maybe we should turn back!” Rose shouted over the wind to him, trying to voice her concern. She trusted the Doctor %100, but she was a bit concerned about both of their safety now. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to let the Doctor fly. 

“And where, Rose Tyler, would be the fun in that?!” He replied, a mad grin on his face. She saw the rocks get nearer and nearer, looking more and more deadly and dangerous than from a distance. She decided to try again. 

“It’s just, those rocks look kind of dangerous.”

“Yes, they do, good observation!” 

He wasn’t stopping. 

She had about ten seconds, maybe twenty. 

Rose knew that he wasn’t going to stop, so in defeat, she clung closer (as if such a thing were even possible anymore) to him out of genuine fear. 

The fog surrounded them, and pointy rocks came to them from all sides. The Doctor clenched the reigns tighter, almost making his knuckles go white. He expertly guided the beast throughout the rocks, dodging all of them, but barely. If Rose were to stretch her arm out in such a clenched space, her arm would be floating in the water, detached from her body. 

That was not a nice thing to think about. 

They did loop-di-loops and corkscrews, travelling upside down in the air to avoid the rocks covered in fog. It didn’t help that it seemed to get darker as they travelled, the sun setting as they flew. 

They finally came to a clearing in the rocky forest, and Rose sighed in relief. They weren’t really out of the rocks yet, but there were no more rocks jumbled up together for it to be dangerous. 

But, it seemed like the Doctor had other plans. 

Without second thought, the dragon plunged into the water without warning, bringing the Doctor and Rose down with it. 

Underneath the crystal-clear water was fish and beautiful coral reefs; not at all what Rose had expected there to be. Then again, she didn’t really want to go underwater today in the first place. 

They were brought up again seconds later, both the Doctor and Rose stopping to catch breath. He laughed in excitement while she groaned. Her hair was wet and so was her clothes, and it would take forever to dry them out. The Doctor, on the other hand, had never felt more alive. 

Before Rose could ask what the hell he was doing, they were under the water again. This time Rose knew what was coming and took a deep breath before the entered the water. 

The water was warm and filled with all sorts of fish and animals, things she hadn’t noticed the first time they went under. 

They came up for air once again, up out of the water. She wiped the water from dripping down her face and brushed the wet strands of hair off her face. 

Before anyone had any time to do or say anything (that anyone being Rose), they were out of the rocks and boulders, but they were headed right toward a cliff edge. And the   
Doctor wasn’t doing anything about it!

“Doctor! Pull up!” Rose screamed at him. 

At the very last second, the Doctor pulled back harshly on the reigns. The dragon flew up immediately. It was so close to the cliffside that it’s legs were inches from touching the stone of the cliff. 

By this point they were flying upwards at almost a ninety-degree angle, and both the Doctor and Rose had to lean forward to avoid falling off. 

They soared past the cliff and up into the clouds. The dragon flew faster and faster into the air, and Rose could feel the temperatures dropping as they reached a higher altitude. If she thought it was cold before, that was nothing compared to how it was becoming. 

The Doctor dared to fly higher, and they eventually reached above the clouds. It was starting to get dark up in the sky, the sun having already passed the clouds and was lowering beyond the horizon. 

Once the Doctor felt like they had gone high enough, he loosened his grip on the reigns so much, he might as well have just let go entirely. They stopped mid-air, high above the clouds, thousands of feet in the air. 

It was only a matter of time before they started to fall again. It started slow, going downwards in no controlled direction. In seconds, however, they were freefalling down towards the ocean below. 

The only thing Rose could hear was the wind rushing all around her at such a speed, and her own screaming. But even that was limited. 

She screamed at him to stop, to pull up and to make sure she was safe. Though, she could hardly hear herself command these things, she was certain that he couldn’t either. She gripped closer to him out of pure terror now. She knew that he would make sure that they both came out of this safe, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared. 

Then they started spiralling out of control. Rose felt her stomach do flips, and she could hardly tell if she was upside down or not. She was spinning around so fast and violently, she felt bile rise up in her throat. She quickly swallowed it before it came out. She did not want that to be the outcome of their ride, no matter how terrifying this already was. 

They were nearing the water now, and it didn’t seem like the Doctor was going to do anything anytime soon to save them. 

She came closer to him, putting her mouth right next to his ear so he could hear her. “I trust you, Doctor. Please…” 

They were nearing the water, only seconds now before they hit it again. She squeezed her eyes shut, ready to be hit by the water at a violent speed. 

Her stomach flipped once more as they were quite suddenly pulled to an upright position again, inches above the water. 

The Doctor had pulled them up. 

Rose breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that they were safe once again. She never really doubted the Doctor, but she couldn’t say she wasn’t scared and concerned; not only for herself but for the both of them. 

The Doctor, on the other hand, knew that they weren’t going to die that day. Not with him around. He inwardly scolded himself for being so reckless and putting Rose into danger, and that was something he should never do, especially since he just got her back. But, she did say that she wanted to go back to how their adventures used to be. And to him, that included the danger and the recklessness and the exuberance of it all. He wanted her to properly experience everything that he could offer her, even if that included experiencing a bloody ride on a dragon. 

But, he might have scared her. That worried him. She might not have wanted all that and was perfectly content with just hand-holding and sight-seeing. 

“Are you okay?” He asked her, needing to know if she was alright with all this. He needed to take more caution, to make sure that she was still there with him, and that she still wanted to be with him. He couldn’t lose her again, not after Canary Warf. Not if he could help it. 

That was when Rose started to laugh. It was quiet giggling turned to full on hysterical laughter. She couldn’t believe what had just happened, and even everything that had happened to her since she met the Doctor. It was all unbelievably impossible. 

“Yes, Doctor. I am completely okay.” She said in between breaths as she laughed. He grinned and continued to fly them safely back to the palace. 

They were having a pleasant ride back to the palace, having easy conversation about nothing in particular, when they were abruptly interrupted. 

Rose heard the sound of something like a large bell (like one one’d find in a cathedral) coming from the palace, and the shrill cry of something resembling a medieval megaphone. 

The Doctor heard all this too, and caught sight of Gaelys and the dark-skinned woman gesturing at them to come back frantically, Gaelys yelling at someone angrily from behind   
her every once in a while. Something was wrong. 

The Doctor picked up the pace, not at a speed he so reckless had beforehand, and made their way back to the balcony of the palace as soon as they could. 

They landed safely (which Rose was quite impressed with, seeing as the Doctor was flying after all) and they hurriedly departed from their new friend. 

Gaelys ran over to them with frantic eyes.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” The Doctor asked before Rose could say anything. Gaelys, instead of telling him to be quiet, saying it wasn’t his place, decided to answer him instead. She didn’t have time for custom or formality at the moment. 

“We found a body in the Grand Hall! The servant who found him said that there wasn’t any cuts or bruises on the body, which means witchcraft. We think the palace’s possessed!”   
She informed them. 

Both the Doctor and Rose furrowed their brows in confusion. Rose knew that demons and angels and all that didn’t really exist, but how could the boy have died suddenly without any sort of evidence that someone’d killed him?

The Doctor had a million and one thoughts swirling around in his big, fancy Time Lord brain of his, but he couldn’t make sense of any one of them. 

He looked to Rose, and she nodded. Finally, things were starting to get interesting. 

It was time to investigate.


	4. Chapter 4

∙2 hours prior∙

 

The fire crackled, giving the room a warm glow as the old scholar hummed a quite tune, her nose buried deep in the thin book. 

Across the desk from where she sat comfortably, was a young man, tapping his foot on the animal-skin carpet. His arms crossed with impatience, he surveyed the room. ‘It must be cold during the nights’, he thought to himself as his gaze passed the damp walls. Her room was underground, after all, and he briefly wondered if she had seen proper sunlight in years. 

There were wooden bookshelves covered with books of every sort of topic, language, theme and thickness. This scholar knew what she read, and understood it with a deeper meaning. He knew that she would help him understand his text as well. And if she didn’t, well, then she’d have her own prices to pay. 

The man was growing more impatient by the second. Was she almost done? Would she ever stop humming that god-awful tune? 

“Could you be quiet?” He snapped at her, having enough of the musical torture. 

“Not a man of music, I presume?” The elder drawled as she carefully turned the thin pages of the book. “Not to this particular tune, no.” He snapped back, his voice tight, dripping with sarcasm. 

The lady glanced up from her book to him, one look in her eyes telling him to be silent. 

The man’s arms tightened as he stared at her with impatience. 

She sighed and put the book down on her wooden desk. 

“Well? Anything?” He asked impatiently. He certainly had other things to do that day, and couldn’t waste any more time on an old woman who was banished to the ground for proclaiming the future. He had places to be at the moment. 

“Patience is what you lack, boy. It’s a vital quality.” She snapped back at him, as if a return for his utter disrespect towards her. 

“I don’t care about you or your philosophies on life, just tell me what it means.” He told her, almost on the brink of any patience he did have left. This woman was certainly testing his self control. 

“For such information requires a price, my boy.” She said coolly, not bothering to meet his gaze as it quickly became enraged. 

He clenched his fists in anger and stepped forward towards her desk. In such a quick motion, she marvelled at how she could barely comprehend what had happened. He had pushed everything on her desk to the ground, including the book, out of anger and irritation. Her trinkets smashed on the stone floor, and papers flew around the room, some landing in the water bucket nearby, others finding their way to the cackling fireplace. 

The woman jumped back in surprise at the sudden action, spooked to say the least. 

He leaned over the desk, glaring at the woman in a way she had never seen before, but could only described as filled with resentment. 

“You will tell me whatever I want to know about these damn books, and you will do it promptly.” He snarled at her with a low voice. Somehow, she knew she would have felt more   
at ease if he had yelled at her instead. Sometimes being quiet can be just as deadly as being loud. 

“It’s nothing. Just hymns and songs, they don’t even make much sense!” she told him desperately. She grew up being taught never to fear a man, for they could do nothing to hurt them. They were weak and insignificant and she should never be afraid of one. She now knew that all she was taught was incorrect. 

He backed up from the desk and turned around, his back to her, facing the walls of bookshelves. 

He silently groaned in frustration. That couldn’t be it. They had to mean something. 

“Nothing.” He repeated. The old woman nodded. “You needn’t worry yourself with them. They’re just writings of a madwoman.” She tried to reassure, both him and herself. The writings were old, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t unease her the slightest. 

They talked of animals. Sly foxes and gluttonous dragons and destructive leviathans. They foretold destruction of the monarchy and of the great city of Aephaera, and two travelling strangers who would set the very ground they stand on ablaze for eternities. 

“You are trying to tell me that those books, those illegal writings, which were banned years before for a reason the Royal Scholar kept secret, mean nothing?” He snarled at her, turning around to face her once again. 

The woman nodded. She would say anything just to appease him so that he would leave. She hadn’t really wanted him down in her only sanctuary in the first place. She wasn’t exactly quite sure why he was there at all, really. 

“These books are supposed to hold the future. How are these any different than what you read?” He asked her as he picked up a thick book of the Holy Writings of Old. She gasped quietly at the motion. Those writings were the most sacred things she owned. If anything happened to them, she would be destroyed. 

He glanced at the book, bound in worn out leather and thin, frail pages tied together with leather string. “These speak in riddles and songs and hymns and proverbs, as those books do.” He pointed out. The woman nodded in conformation. 

He opened the book to look at the contents, smiling, almost laughing at what he saw. 

“For when the Wolf strikes, it is without mercy, and his teeth sink in with hungry delight. The others rejoice at the newfound blood, and feast on the fresh meat. Others still join, drawn in by bloodlust and revenge.” He drawled in a voice that seemed almost bored. 

He looked at the woman, to the book, and back to the woman. His grin grew mockingly as he scorned the sacred writings. 

“Sounds like a feast to me.” He said, turning a couple pages.

“But, from what I’m reading here, how does this differ from what you just read? You go on and on about these …ridiculous words and their importance, yet you scorn my books?” 

He said incredulously, slamming the book in his hands shut harshly. 

“You’re useless.” He said coldly as he expertly threw the thick book into the blazing fire. 

The woman’s eyes widened as she cried out and dove towards the fireplace to try and save the only things she had left. 

She wasn’t fast enough, nor close enough to reach them. She fell on the floor, right on the chest, reaching out to save the book from the flame, but was useless to it’s rescue. She watched with tears in her eyes as the flames consumed the writings, shrivelling them up to nothing, turning them to ashes that danced in the air above. 

The young man scoffed and picked up his thin books from the desk in front of him. He barely spared the woman a look, or even a help up off her feet before he began his way to the door. 

“If you won’t help me, I’ll make someone do what you obviously cannot.” He told her, opening the door to let himself out. 

The woman didn’t hear him, or maybe she did and just didn’t care. Those Holy Writings were all she had left. The only things keeping her close to the Gods. She’d betrayed them the minute she let the young man into her room. Those were hers, and now they were gone, destroyed as she now felt. 

The young man spared her once last glance before slipping out of the room, closing the door with a noticeable click. 

He sighed as he entered the corridors of the underground of the palace. He’d need to find translating elsewhere, it seemed. But he’d have to do that later. He had work to do. 

≈

Gaelys lead them through the corridors of the palace, yelling at people to back away the closer they got to the crime scene. 

 

“Do you think that the palace is actually… well… possessed?” Rose asked him out of pure curiosity. 

“I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible for some sort of telepathic being to inhabit someone’s mind- it happened with you and Cassandra once. But then again, they thought we were demons when we first came, so… I’m not sure.” The Doctor explained, trying to meet eye contact with her while dodging crowds of people. 

They approached a doorway (presumably the one that lead to the ‘Great Hall’), there were swarms of people surrounding the doorway. There were murmurings among them. It seemed like everyone who was currently in the palace was in that swarm of people. 

“Out of the way! Oi! Move it!” Gaelys yelled at them, shoving and elbowing them out of the way so that she, the Doctor and Rose could make it into the room. 

They eventually made it into the Great Hall, a room Rose recognized as the central station of the palace. This hall was long and had hallways and corridors that directed into every room of the palace, if you chose the right hallway. She remembered Gaelys explained it almost impossible to get from one room to another without passing the Great Hall. 

Beside a pillar made of cobblestone were several warriors, a medical-looking official and Arya was looking down at the ground in disbelief with tears swarming her vision. 

“Bloody hell…” Gaelys swore under her breath and made her was quickly over to the group. Rose and the Doctor were right behind her. 

Several of the warriors moved out of the way when Rose came to see, and she immediately gasped at the sight. The Doctor looked over her shoulder, a stoic expression on his face. He’d seen so much like this before, he hated that he was almost used to it by now. 

There, on the ground before the pillar, lay a young boy, not much older looking than Rose herself. His skin was deathly pale, almost a light lavender color. His eyes were bloodshot, unseeing. He was obviously dead. Anyone could see it. The alarming fact was that it seemed he had been dead for hours, almost days, it looked like. How long had he been laying here without anyone noticing? And more importantly, who killed him?

There were no obvious abrasions or bruises on what skin that showed, so he wasn’t killed by violence. A poison maybe? The Doctor had several ideas about how this boy died, but he needed to get close enough to find out. He wasn’t quite sure if they’d let him, though, seeing as they treated men with such disrespect in their culture. 

“I need to get close enough to the body. Can you make sure they don’t try and stop me?” He whispered to Rose, who was ahead of him. She looked up to him and nodded. 

Carefully, he started to kneel down to the body so he could have a closer look. 

Some of the warriors surrounding them stirred, ready to stop him, but Rose quickly shut them down. “He’s a doctor, he can help.” Rose told them, and they all seemed to understand, and didn’t try to disrupt him further. 

The Doctor inspected the damage, only to find that there wasn’t anything noticed on the body. No cuts or bruises or any marks on the skin. And the symptoms from what he’d observed so far hadn’t related to any sort of poison whatsoever. 

Although, since the Doctor was part telepathic, he could tell that there was a massive amount of trauma that had happened with the boy’s brain. Curious, he looked deeper as to what might have happened to him, seeing the extent to the damage. 

It was almost as if you were looking at old files in a file cabinet, dusty with tons of cobwebs. They still held information, it was just harder to get to it. 

It had been several minutes of searching until he found it. A sharp intake of breath alerted Rose of this discovery. Although he seemed troubled (as was everyone else in the room), Rose knew that he’d figured it out. And it seemed like the others had caught on as well. 

“Well? What is it?” One woman beside Rose asked harshly. He stood up to face the people in front of him. He wasn’t quite sure how to explain the boy’s cause of death without them believing that it was actually witchcraft. 

“He- well…” He started off, still unsure of how to word the sentence. He caught sight of Rose in front of him, and she gave him a curt, subtle nod. For some strange reason that he couldn’t quite place, she gave him a surge of confidence, though he wasn’t really sure why he would need such confidence. Then again, seeing a death was always a bit down-bringing. 

“He suffered major trauma to his brain, it seems. He probably was hit incredibly hard on the head, most likely. But the good news is, there is absolutely no sign of witchcraft here!”   
He told them, trying to reassure them as he finished. He didn’t need a city-wise panic about a possessed monarchy. 

They seemed to accept that. Two warriors were commanded to take the body away to the morgue, while Rose rushed to Arya’s side. 

“He was my brother!” She sniffled, her voice wobbling. Rose didn’t know what to say. “I’m so sorry. I promise, me and the Doctor, we’re gonna find out who did this, okay?” 

Arya looked up at her and nodded. 

Not a second was spared for her to grieve, or mourn even, before she was called. She inhaled harshly while wiping the remnant tears from her eyes before running off in the direction she was called. Rose watched sorrowfully as Arya sauntered away. She hadn’t even the chance to mourn for her brother. 

She glanced over at where the boy lay, and saw that there were already officials taking preparing to take him away, hopefully to a place where he’d be put to peace. It couldn’t have been a pleasant death. 

Though, Rose could tell that the Doctor was lying to everyone when he said the boy had a blow to the head. She’d known him long enough to know that much, if anything.   
Rose came up to his side to ask him quietly about this, but Gaelys beat her. 

“I’m sorry you two had to see that. This doesn’t usually happen, at all.” Gaelys apologized profusely, as if she’d been the cause of the death. “These things aren’t natural, no, but please send our condolences to Arya.” Rose spoke up before the Doctor could say something stupid. Gaelys nodded in understanding. 

“You must be tired. You can go to your rooms, if you wish.” Gaelys offered, and Rose decided that they both better take that deal before anything else bad happened. 

“That’d be lovely, thank you.” Rose said, grabbing the Doctor’s arm and pulling him away into a corridor she hoped led to their rooms. 

She was glad to corridor was empty, so that she could ask her question now. 

“What really happened to him?” She asked him quietly as they walked down the corridor. The Doctor, however, did not reply right away. He didn’t want to scare her, but the situation was in itself, quite frightening. He hadn’t seen one this strong in years, and wasn’t quite sure how far it would go. Everyone was at risk here, and he didn’t know if he should take away that bit of hope that everything would be okay, when it most certainly might not be. 

“Someone got into his head, destroyed it from the inside out.” He said quietly, hoping not to disturb her too much. “Basically, through incredibly skilled telepathy, they invaded into his mind and destroyed all the neuropathways in his brain, overheating them until they splattered. It’s incredibly painful, and can take up to hours to finish completely. 

However, this was done in a matter of seconds.” He explained. 

Rose listened intently. This was no accident, by the sounds of it. This was straight up, intended murder. 

“Why would anyone do somethin’ like that?” She asked carefully after a couple seconds of prolonged silence. “I have no idea, and if I’m being honest, I don’t really want to know.”   
the Doctor told her. 

She nodded in understanding, and the rest of the walk back to their rooms was silent.


	5. Chapter 5

They were invited for dinner in the main hall with the Queen and her sister, Princess Althelara, later that night, despite the terrible things that they’d seen that day already. The 

Doctor suggested that they didn’t have to go if she didn’t want to… but she argued that they rather not be rude and decline. 

Now, here they were, sitting beside each other at the frankly large, wooden table in the main Mess Hall. Everyone was there, except the Queen, and dinner couldn’t exactly start without her. 

There was, however, the princess. She was young-looking, no older than 16 by human ageing. She had long, dark hair that was held back from her pale, freckled skin with a regal-esque head piece, resembling a crown. Dark red lips accentuated her bright green eyes, the rest of her outfit matching the same hue. 

All in all, she was a very beautiful girl. Since she was sitting near the Doctor and Rose, she decided to try and befriend the girl, seeing as she was not making much conversation with anyone else. Though, she didn’t respond enthusiastically. She just gave Rose a blank stare for an answer. 

After a couple minutes of fruitless attempts at any sort of conversation with the girl, she smiled warmly at her and sat back in her seat with defeat. It was worth a try anyway, wasn’t it?

There was the loud rumble of conversation alive in the room, while the end that the Doctor, Rose, and Princess Althelara sat at was dead silent. Rose hoped that the Queen would hurry up doing Queen-like things and make it to the dinner. She was near starving. 

Her stomach decided to betray her and an un-naturally loud rumble of protest came from Rose. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She hoped her stomach would settle until food was served. The Doctor almost laughed. Sure, he was hungry, but not enough to show it. Then again, humans didn’t really have control over that sort of thing. 

It seemed hours, but in reality, it was only minutes, when the doors on the other end of the room flew open and Queen Amphitrite entered. 

The room suddenly went silent, spare the screeching of the wooden chairs against the cobblestone as everyone got to their feet as she entered, showing the upmost respect for their ruler. 

She said nothing, and wasted no time in walking across the room to the back, taking her seat at the head of the table, the princess at her left and Rose at her right. After she was seated, everyone else followed suit. 

No sooner after everyone’s seat had been pulled up to the table after sitting down, the Queen rested her forearms on the wooden table, her palms facing the ceiling. It was the Princess who first took her sister’s hand in her own, and it started something like a chain reaction. Everyone set their forearms on the table, their hands cupped around one another’s. 

Rose realized what was happening, though she was skeptical behind the reasoning, she knew what they were doing. 

Carefully, as if doing so would hurt her, she held the Queen’s hand which was stretched out to her, almost greeting her. She grabbed the Doctor’s hand as well, which, as the rest of the room, was now rested on top of the table. 

Everyone looked at the Queen for further instruction. 

She looked down at the table, her head not wavering, only her gaze. Rose guessed it was to avoid eye contact with the rest of the group. 

She then started speaking, and Rose knew that if the TARDIS wasn’t translating everything for her, these words would definitely be in a foreign language. 

“Allorah, grant us permission to consume your creation tonight. Despite our misery, grant us deliverance. Despite our pride, grant us humility. Despite our losses, grant us victory. We thank thee for the life, the sun, the moon, and for every passing. We pray for the Sirrah to deliver us, the ones who will sacrifice their lives for the hope of saving ours.” 

Everyone was silent, Rose swore could hear a pin drop. 

“Sezamora.” She finished quietly. The rest of the room joined after her. To her surprise, the Doctor even joined in, quietly mumbling the word under his breath. Out of respect, though Rose hadn’t the faintest idea what it’d meant, she whispered the foreign word underneath her breath as well. She wanted to be respectful in this new culture, and she had a feeling doing so was basically the ticket to achieving that goal. 

After that, the food was served. 

Chicken that was cooked above a blazing fire (it was just a bit crispy to Rose’s taste), various types of breads, steamed vegetables and red wine was served that night with pleasant (enough) conversation. Rose had several questions for the Doctor about the prayers said before the meal, such as who the Sirrah was supposed to be, and what sezamora meant, and why the TARDIS didn’t translate it for her. 

It’d seem, however, that she could not do so. The Queen was on her left, enjoying her meal, and the Doctor was beside her on her right. And it seemed like some of the other people at the table decided to make conversation with him, despite the blazing prejudice against him. Then again, they were new, and she decided that the others were interested in them. 

Rose decided to enjoy the quiet she was offered and enjoy her meal instead. She didn’t want to bother the Queen, and she knew from experience that the Princess wasn’t going to make any conversation. Besides, this could be time to think about the murder she saw, and how to stop it from happening again. 

The Doctor, however, was almost overwhelmingly swarmed with conversation, which wasn’t what he was expecting, if he was completely honest. They were asking his name, where he was from, who that pretty girl who was sitting beside him was, and if they were in a relationship. He didn’t have enough time to answer one question before another was asked! It was mostly women at the table, save a one other man who seemed to be a guest, though he didn’t speak a word the entire time. 

He answered most of their questions before they decided to involve him in a deep conversation about the Queen. 

“Did you hear of the fire this afternoon?” One lady asked, tearing a piece of chicken from a larger piece. “Oh, who didn’t? All of our crops for the winter were destroyed! And what does the Queen do about it? Absolutely nothing!” Other one answered. 

More and more gossip travelled around the table about the Queen, and the Doctor gathered quite quickly that these were landlords over different communities, and they were not happy with the current monarchy. One bad thing after another was said, and it all appeared to be true. 

“Wait, what’s so wrong with the Queen? Then again, I’ve only met her once, and that was only for a couple minutes, and it was for an execution trial so dare I say it was informal…”   
The Doctor started before he realized he was rambling again. 

“But, she seems like a fairly good ruler, if you ask me. Why do you all dislike her that much?” The Doctor asked, scratching the back of his neck in contemplation. 

One of the women looked up to him with wide eyes at his question. 

“She’s a deceiver.” She began, almost non-understandable with her thick accent that sounded slightly Scottish. “Depending on who ye are, she’ll treat ye differently. To us common folk, oh… you should see the way she just… sneers at us in disgust. Lad, you’ve been greatly mistaken. She cares for nuthin’ else but what she can gain. Do yerself a favor and remember that, eh?” She finished, pointing a greasy finger at him. 

He nodded. This wasn’t the first time he’d met a posh ruler before. He glanced over at the Queen, and immediately saw what they were talking about. 

Seated high in her seat, nose turned upwards that the things she disliked. The crown was on display to remind everyone of who was in charge. She didn’t make any sort of attempt to have a conversation with anyone around her. He knew that Rose had tried with both her and the Princess by now, though those attempts have clearly failed. 

“If ye look at her any longer lad, she might turn ye to stone, like the Medusa she is.” One of the ladies said with a smirk as biting a piece of vegetable. Her remark earned a light laugh around the table, almost forcing him to look away. 

Just as the meal was about to end, a guard walked into the doors, and both the Doctor and Rose recognized her as Calantha, the woman who’d accused them of witchcraft hours prior. 

“Calantha? What is it now?” The Queen asked, clearly exasperated.   
“The Governess of Candora has arrived, Your Majesty. She says she regrets not being able to make it for dinner, seeing as it was a long and tiring ride from there to here. But she wanted me to alert you of her arrival.” Calantha states, almost nervously. 

The Queen nods her head with acknowledgement, and then continues on with the lasts of her meal. 

Instead of leaving, however, Calantha ducks into the room just as conversation starts up again, and makes her way to where the Queen is seated. 

Rose watches subtly as Calantha whispers something to the Queen. Partway through what Calantha was trying to tell her, the Queen suddenly pushes her back, cutting her off quite effectively. During the forceful action, her chair was also pushed back, screeching across the cobblestone floor, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room. 

The women who held conversation with the Doctor were suddenly silenced, and they all looked up to see the commotion. 

The Queen looked out at everyone at the table, almost with a glare. Calantha, who was now forced behind the Queen, faded a bit in the darkness where the firelight did not reach, seemed shocked, almost emotionally hurt. Rose hadn’t heard the conversation or what had caused the Queen to get angry, and now she wished she had. She was good with people and with words, perhaps she could’ve found a way to calm both of them down. 

The Queen said nothing, but one look told everyone else at the table to resume their activities. This was obviously none of their concern. 

Once everyone had returned to their conversations, she reached out and grabbed Calantha’s shirt, dragging her close once again. Rose decided that this time, it would be useful to use some of her eavesdropping skills to see what was going on. 

She pretended to finish up some of her crispy chicken while she listened to what the conflict was. She saw the look on the Doctor’s face before, and knew that he would like some extra information. She might as well be useful to him again, especially on this particular trip. 

“You will not speak of this again. You are no more useful to me than the bastards living in the stables, do you understand? Leave. Immediately.” She hissed at Calantha. Rose looked up innocently as she chewed her food while Calantha backed away, and quietly made her leave out the back entrance. Rose did not miss the water in her eyes as she left. 

Not even a minute after Calantha left the room, she stood up. The room went silent once again as everyone looked up at the Queen. 

“Everyone is dismissed.” She said tightly. Several stared at her for a few seconds, obviously perplexed at her announcement, but one by one, they all stood, and left in small groups out of different doorways, leading perhaps to different hallways. It wasn’t long until it was only the Doctor and Rose left in the room, slightly shocked about how quickly things had changed. Well, more for how things had changed for the Doctor. Erupting conversation one-minute, absolute silence the next. 

They stood, once they couldn’t take the Queen’s unforgiving stare any longer. 

“Thank you for dinner, Your Majesty.” Rose thanked, both her and the Doctor bowing in respect, before leaving the room as she commanded. 

The Doctor lead Rose down corridors he had become familiar with, though she hadn’t. He knew she heard what the Queen had said to Calantha after the… well… skirmish, he supposed. 

“What did she say?” He asked in a hushed voice, not wanting anyone to overhear. He didn’t know if anyone would be watching or listening or not. 

“I don’t know what it was about, but she told her to not mention it again, and there were some insults I’d rather not repeat. Don’t know what ‘it’ might be, though. D’you have any idea?” she asked, genuinely curious. 

He shook his head, turning left at the right corner. “No idea.” He turned to grin at her. “Exciting, isn’t it?” 

She grinned in return. She was sure the next day in the infamous city of Aephaera would not disappoint in the morning. She couldn’t wait. 

≈

Calantha sat on the wooden benches of the barracks, alone. The sounds of a rock could be heard scraping against dull metal, and soft murmurings of forgotten words. 

“Go there, Calantha. Fetch this, do that, leave me alone you whore.” She muttered as the rock scraped against the blade. She watched with blurry eyes as two or three sparks flew from the particular forcefulness of the scrape. 

“Who the hell does she think she is? Some mighty Queen? High above all?” She whispered, even though she was alone in the room. Seeming to have lost the strength, she let her stone fall and bounce on the ground away from her, not seeming to care. 

“I wish she were fucking dead.” She finished as the tears finally spilt over her cheeks. Everyone believed that Aephaera was a beautiful city with the power and might of dragons and had the perfect reputation. However, those people were so very ignorant about what living there was like. For Calantha, it was a living hell. She knew that many felt the same. 

“Rough night?” A voice asked in the darkness. Calantha jumped to her feet, forcefully wiping the tears off her face with her sleeve, a dire attempt to avoid appearing weak. 

“Who’s there?” She called out to the voice, trying her best to be at least the tiniest bit intimidating. Only a chuckle came in response. Whoever was there noticed the wobble in her voice, and was not the least bit intimidated by it. 

“I demand you to step into the light.” She ordered, gaining more control of her voice, keeping a strong grip of the hilt of her sword. It may not have been the best blade for a frontal attack, but could would deep should the right circumstances arise. It was more of a self-defence weapon. 

A few seconds after the command was given, the owner of the mysterious voice emerged into the light. Noting that the lighting in this particular room was poor, Calantha should remember to get that fixed in the near future. 

The owner of the voice was a man, as she had first guessed. He was tall, she guessed at least six feet. He had rather magnificent brown hair atop his head, with eyes of the same pigment to match. She noted, however, that he was not dressed as a servant, which she found unusual. 

“Where are your clothes?” She asked first, wanting to know how he’d acquired such garments. They didn’t make clothes this fine for men, that was for sure. 

He gave her a confused look at what she’d said. “Uh, I’m wearing them right now, aren’t I?” He snapped cockily, gesturing to the clothes he was already wearing. Calantha could tell that he was arrogant, and she knew that she did not have much patience saved for arrogance. 

She shook her head at his answer, somehow sensing she wasn’t going to get a better answer from him. She decided to ask him a more serious question instead. 

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the stables. After the sun goes down, you know the rules.” She told him, changing her stare of perplexion into that of a glare. 

“I could ask you the same thing. You’re not supposed to be in here until sunrise.” He stated plainly. “And, what did you mean by ‘I wish she were fucking-“ 

“Shut up! I’m a woman, I’ll do what I like. None of this concerns you. Go the hell away before you’re beaten.” Calantha lashed as she sheathed her short blade at her side. He was no more than a cocky slave. 

He didn’t leave, much to her annoyance. “You’re angry.” He said simply. 

She looked up at him, anger evident on her face. “No shit. I told you to leave.” She snapped at him, turning her back to him to put away her things before she left herself. 

“Well, I didn’t know the Queen allowed bitches to fight for her.” He mumbled behind her. She heard him loud and clear, and for someone like him to insult her, a warrior of Aephaera… How dare he?

Any bit of self control she had left for this man snapped at his words. With a cry of anger, she unsheathed her dagger, and went to lunge at him. She could not tolerate him anymore. Maybe a quick slice to the face would teach him a lesson. 

As she turned around, she had lifted her arm in the air to strike at him, but her arm seemed to freeze mid-air. 

She looked up to see what the matter was, and saw that nothing was around it, and she should be able to move freely. 

She tried again to move her arm, but it would not budge. She looked around for the source of such magic until her eyes landed on the man. 

Her eyes widened in fear when she saw that his eyes had turned from dull brown to bright purple. She had heard of ones like this, who had powers from the Gods. Either to hurt or heal, it was their choice. But she realized that she’d already wronged him. He had all the power now, her life, whether she lives or dies is in his hands. 

“Please…” she gasps out, hoping that he’ll spare her. He smirked, knowing he was now in control. 

A force clenched on her wrist sending a sharp pain there as well. Her wrist bent backwards, and she cried out quietly in pain as she felt tiny bones breaking. Her hand went almost numb, dropping the dagger she held. 

As soon as the dagger hit the floor, the invisible grip that held her left, letting her arm drop forcefully to her side once again. 

As soon as she had control over her arm again, she brought up her broken wrist with her other hand, inspecting it for damage. It was bright red, with areas of purple already gathering in the middle of her bruise. That injury would not heal for a while. It was a reminder to her, she knew that. 

She looked up to the man. His eyes had returned to it’s original color, and he seemed to have taken her dagger, and was inspecting it. 

“Nice dagger. It’ll be a lovely addition to my collection.” He smirked as he strapped it to his side. Calantha couldn’t really care. She had other daggers, that was for sure. 

“Who are you?” She asked, still grasping her wrist. “No one you should mention, for now. I need your help, though.” He told her. She noticed how he completely avoided her inquiry, but decided not to dwell on it for now. 

“Whatever you need. What can I help you with?” She asked, knowing that there was only a certain number of things she could possibly help with. 

“I need an army, and I understand that you can help me with that.” He said bluntly, straight to the point. She almost laughed at his request. “And why would you need an army?”   
She asked, a fair question. 

“You hate the Queen, as many here do. I seem to recall you wishing for her funeral, not too long ago.” He stated. She looked away, embarrassed that someone had actually heard her say that. If he told anyone important, she’d be court marshalled, hanged even, for treason to the throne. But he was asking for her help. Maybe he didn’t want her dead right away. 

“I don’t think she’s fit to rule anymore. And I know that you believe the same. If you help me win over her army, we can revolt against her. Bring about a new monarchy, a new government. We can create better lives for everyone.” He told her. 

He paused, letting what he said sink in. Calantha was silent as she considered this. A new life. It was just what she wanted. This was her ticket she was praying for. 

She looked back up at him, knowing that if they made eye contact, he might believe her. 

“I’ll help you.” She said confidently. She wanted to make better lives for the people. If she could help it, she wouldn’t pass up this opportunity. 

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “I wasn’t expecting that, but it’ll do. Besides, I didn’t exactly want to blackmail you with treason anyway.” He admitted, walking closer to her. 

He handed her a small brown sack, full of something that Calantha guessed would be herbs. “For your wrist.” He whispered to her. 

She took the bag gratefully, averting her gaze for a second to put it next to her things. When she looked back, he was gone, almost as if he had disappeared right out of thin air. 

And just like that, she knew that the fate of Aephaera was in her hands, whether she followed up on her promise or not. 

What had she gotten herself into? 

She kept telling herself it was for a better life for both her and others living her. She hoped if she kept telling herself that, she would convince herself. She hoped it’d be enough.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose awoke the next day to a sharp, loud knock coming from the door to her ‘temporary’ bedroom. She groaned and rolled over on her other side, burying her head further in her blankets in a desperate attempt to block out the noise. 

Although, it never stopped. “Rooosseee! Are you awake, Rose?” She heard a familiar voice loudly call, muffled by the thick wooden door. How he got his voice that loud for her to be able to hear it she’ll never know. She briefly wondered how many people he’d awakened so that she could hear him just now. 

Before he could say anything else, Rose decided to respond only to shut him up. “Just gimme a minute, Doctor!” She yelled at the doorway, letting him know she was coming. 

She hesitantly got out of her bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She pulled on her jeans and t-shirt, throwing on her trainers before fixing her bedhead until she hoped it was tamed a bit before she opened the door. 

There, the Doctor was standing outside her door, fully suited and too energetic for the hour. It must have been early. Although, Rose did have the tendency to wake up late, never quite knowing what the hour was. 

“Oh! There you are! Ready for another day of Aephaera?” He asked with a grin, bouncing on the balls of his feet with energy. She was surprised by his energy, then again, she wasn’t quite used to it. 2 and half years apart, she’d grown accustomed to silence rather than… this. 

She grinned right back at him. “Allons-y!” 

They made their way to the dining hall shortly, taking a few pieces of toasted bread and a couple pieces of fruit, making sure that they had extras in case one of them got hungry (and by ‘one of them’ the Doctor obviously meant Rose, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. He didn’t exactly want a smack on the back of the head…). 

There was one woman in the dining hall that Rose didn’t recognize, though. She wore her blonde hair in a braid, loose fitting clothes were secured by a fur coat of some sort of animal. She seemed to be examining the food on the table. 

“Who’s she, Doctor?” Rose asked, pulling the Doctor aside. He stared at the woman, recognizing her. “Why don’t you try and guess? You’re quite clever, I bet you could figure it out.” The Doctor retorted. 

Rose rolled her eyes. She should’ve known he’d play this game with her, as he’d done in the past. 

“Well, she doesn’t look like a warrior. Not like Calantha, anyway. She doesn’t have any armour on…” Rose started, squinting to get a closer look at her from the distance they were at. The Doctor hummed in approval, beckoning her to continue. 

“She’s not from here, she doesn’t have the badge- that I think would be the coat of arms here- on her shoulder. So she’s a foreigner.” 

The Doctor smirked. She was right again. 

“But she isn’t swarmed like we were last night, so she’s been here before. And other people seem to be friendly enough with her.”

The Doctor nodded. She was so close. 

“And Calantha did announce that the Governess from… Candora did arrive last night…” Rose trailed off, connecting the dots together. 

The Doctor grinned as he watched Rose figure it out. She tore her gaze away from the woman to the Doctor. “She’s the Governess who arrived last night?” she said excitedly. 

The Doctor nodded, taking a bite of the fruit he’d seemed to acquire. “Princess Idris, the Governess of Candora. She the second cousin of the Queen. Actually, she’s the older one.   
It was originally her who was supposed to take the throne of the kingdom, but there was a lot of debate, since her father was a slave, that she wasn’t real royalty and wasn’t fit to rule over the people. There was a huge civil war against the two families, and I’m sure you can guess who won. The two girls, Amphitrite and Idris, were close, however. So,   
Amphitrite just made Idris a Governess, which seemed to please the other family enough not to start another civil war in the near future. It’s quite clever, if you ask me.” The   
Doctor explained, seeming to know a bit of history about the city and the kingdom. 

Rose nodded in understanding. It made sense, even if she could hardly process the Doctor’s words at the speed he was telling them. She’d forgotten how much she missed his rambling, having been away from it for 2 and a half years. 

The Doctor and Rose watched from the side as the Queen entered, and immediately went to Idris after seeing her. The two embraced, obviously they hadn’t seen each other in a while. It was obvious the two were close. Rose wished she had someone that close, like a sister. 

You do have a little brother, though. She thought to herself, suddenly remembering Tony from Pete’s world. Half-brother. She reminded herself. That Pete’s not my Dad. My Dad died when I was little. 

“Well, we best get going!” The Doctor said suddenly, pulling Rose out of her thoughts. He started to walk away, and she turned around sharply, her hair whipping her in the face, to follow him. “Where are we going?” She asked once she caught up to him. 

He looked down to her, a grin making its way onto his face. “Exploring!” 

≈

The town was alive, mostly. Rose and the Doctor walked among the streets, and Rose noticed how drastically the mood had changed from when they entered the city yesterday to today. There were men, women leaning on houses, dirty and begging for food and money. The children whom were homeless were seen stealing food from the local vendors; some more sneakily than others. 

And those who did have homes seemed to be no better than the homeless. The city was poor, incredibly poor, Rose noticed. But then, why did everyone seem so happy when the entered yesterday?

“I don’t get it.” Rose said, staring at the people. “Don’t get what?” The Doctor asked, noticing she was being rather vague with her question. 

“They all seemed so happy when we came here yesterday. What happened?” she asked. “The people we saw yesterday were a ruse. Well… they are a ruse. If anyone enters, they keep the rich right outside the gates so that the city appears happy and healthy and rich. They don’t get to see what really happens in the city.” The Doctor explained, knowing that Rose might be angry with what he’d said and decided not to look her in the eye when it happened. 

“That’s horrible. Did you know they did that?” Rose asked, becoming quickly irritated by the situation. The Doctor gulped. He knew this would happen. “Well- “

“Don’t ‘well’ me, mister. You could have told me that the city was suffering instead of letting me believe it was okay!” She argued, interrupting anything he was going to say immediately. 

He had nothing to say to that. She was right, like always. 

“I want to help them.” She stated harshly. The Doctor raised his eyebrows to her tone. “Rose, that would take years. Unless you want to become the next Queen, there’s not much either of us could do. I’m sorry.” He said gently, not wanting her to get any more upset than she already was. 

Rose didn’t respond to him, trying her best not to get too cross and lash out in public. She didn’t want to embarrass them. 

They walked around in silence until they came across a large building that resembled something of a monastery, or maybe a library; Rose wasn’t exactly sure. 

“What are we really doing today, Doctor?” She said, seeming harsher than she wanted to be. She was hit with another twinge of guilt when she noticed he subtly flinched at her tone. She shouldn’t have been so harsh, he was just trying to protect her, she knew that. She shouldn’t get angry over something like that. 

“I wanted to find out who- or what- killed that boy last night. Figured they might have something in a library.” He explained plainly, not looking at her. 

“Well, maybe if this person had a lot of telepathy to kill someone, he might have hurt someone else before. If you want to get the facts, you should talk to the people. They have all the gossip.” Rose told him. The Doctor nodded in approval. “See, that’s what I like about you. Taking the domestic approach.” He said, nodding to himself. 

“So, how about I’ll talk to the people, and you check out the library?” she asked tentatively. A small smile appeared on his face. “Fantastic.” He said, reminding him very much as his last self. Rose grinned, understanding the reference. They both turned to go their separate ways, when the Doctor turned around to stop her. 

“Wait, Rose!” He called to her before she could get too far. “What?” She asked, turning around to face him. “Please be careful.” He asked her. She only rolled her eyes, but the smirk on her face said she didn’t really mean it. “I will. Same to you, eh?” 

He smiled. “I will.” 

With that, they both turned in the opposite direction of each other; Rose heading into the streets with vendors, the Doctor to the stairs leading up to the library. They were going to find out who killed the young boy, and preferably before he or she does it again. 

≈

Rose talked to many people, trying her best to get information about the attacker. She tried her best to not sound completely insane with the locals, but still had to explain the symptoms as best she could. Most of the answers she got was about people called a Fiolaid Demon. She’d talked to about 10 vendors and local citizens in total. But from what she gathered, such things called a ‘Fiolaid Demon’ was a myth. She couldn’t find anything else that had gone with telepathy, however. She wondered if the Doctor had had any better luck in the library. 

She approached a young woman that seemed to be selling jewelry. 

“Hi there! I’m Rose.” She said, introducing herself. The young woman smiled at her. “I’m Ebony. How may I help ye today, lass? Would ye like to buy some of my jewelry?” She asked holding out a board with necklaces and bracelets on top, her accent sounding vaguely Scottish. It reminded her of the Torchwood House with the werewolf. 

“I actually came to ask you a couple questions, do you mind?” Rose asked shyly. She found that if you acted shyer around here the more likely you were to find answers. She guessed it was because most of the poor were too shy around here. 

“Oh, not at all. Come, have a seat.” She offered kindly, beckoning Rose to come behind the table with her merchandise. 

There was a second wooden stool that looked like it might fall apart if any weight was put on it. Rose sat on it carefully anyways. She didn’t want to appear rude. 

“What can I help ye with, then?” The woman asked, brushing a stray strand of dark hair from her face. “I was just asking if anyone around here knew of a… mind-reader. But, they used their abilities for harm. Do you have any knowledge about that sort of thing?” Rose asked. 

The woman noticeably paled at her question. “You mean… Do ye mean a Fiolaid Demon?” The woman asked her, noticing how her tone became more hushed as she said the last two words. Rose nodded slowly. “Do you know anything about them?” 

The woman nodded. “Aye. They say they were given gifts from the Gods, certain people, and they could control another’s mind to do whatever they pleased.” Rose nodded in understanding, urging her to continue. 

“At first, the stories said that they only used their gifts for other’s wellbeing. But then it changed. People everywhere were dying at the hands of the Fiolaid Demons, and no one could stop them. 

“They couldna control the dragons, though. They were all herded into a certain spot, and burned alive by the dragons.

“They said that their eyes glowed violet when their powers were used. It was a sign that they were a Fiolaid Demon. But they’re all gone now, for millennia’s.” The woman finished, looking up to meet Rose in the eye. 

“You havena by chance come across one, have ye?” She asked carefully, fear alight in her eyes. 

Rose opened her mouth to respond when the sounds of shouting from a distance interrupted her. 

“What the hell?” The young woman asked, squinting past Rose to see what was going on. Rose stood up and came into the street to try and see better, no longer having any roofs to block her vision. 

There was a crowd of people surround the square where she and the Doctor had parted, a space big enough for a large amount of people. She could barely see what the commotion was, but as the people moved she spotted the unmistakable long brown coat that was obviously the Doctor. She would like to say he was observing whatever was happening after finding useful information about the threat. Or at least trying to stop any conflict that was happening. But that was not the Doctor she knew. If he didn’t find trouble, trouble would find him, one way or another. 

“Doctor!” She yelled at him over the shouting of the people, hoping that he’d stop just for a second to look at her. It didn’t work, and that’s when she knew she had to get over there since he wasn’t. And quite quickly, if she had anything to say about it. 

She ran over, screaming at him over the volume of the people. She got to the hoards quickly than she’s planned, and they’d made something like a wall around the square, everyone wanting to see the commotion. 

“Let me through! Let me through!” Rose screamed at them when they wouldn’t let her through, trying her best to be polite when shoving and elbowing her way through the wall. 

As soon as she got through what she guessed was at least 7 layers of people, she made it to an open space in the square. That was where she saw the Doctor and three other men, bigger men. They were definitely more muscular and military trained than him, and were surprisingly taller. They had an advantage against him, that was clear. And it looked like their intentions were anything but peaceful. 

Just as she caught sight of them and what was really happening, the tallest man out of them threw his fist at the Doctor, hitting him square on the nose. A notable crunch filled the air and blood spurted as the Doctor was forced backwards from the force of the impact. 

The Doctor hardly had a chance to get a word in, or back away, or try to fight back before the man came back, and his fist hit the Doctor again, this time in the jaw. Another crack filled the air of what was undoubtedly his jawbone breaking. What did that man do for a living? 

Rose stared in shock for no more than a couple seconds before realizing she had to intervene. 

The man clenched his fist again, an indication that he was about to do further harm, and Rose’s legs decided to break into a full-on sprint towards them. She had to stop this!

“Stop! Stop! Get back!” Rose screamed at the man. Though he showed no signs that he’d actually heard her, the Doctor had. 

Holding his broken jaw, blood oozing in between his fingers, his eyes widened when he saw Rose speeding towards them. “No! No Rose, stay away!” He yelled at her before the man hit him again, sending him falling onto the cobblestone, blood gathering in mouth from biting his tongue at the impact. 

Rose was almost between the Doctor and the man, whose knuckles had been stained red, when he pulled back his fist to strike once more. That was no fair, the Doctor wasn’t even standing now! Then again, he’d had every disadvantage when the fight began. 

Using the momentum of the speed she was going at, she jabbed her body at the man standing above the Doctor just as he went to strike again. 

It didn’t do too much, much to her dismay. It only shoved him a couple inches away, but it made him loose focus, to stop the hit before it came. 

She skidded to a stop in front of the Doctor, and held out both her hands to try and keep anyone away who came near. “Stay the hell away! We are guests of Queen Amphitrite! Get back!” she screamed at the three men, hoping what she’d said would make them back off a bit. 

Before anyone could say anything else in protest, a dark shadow passed over the square that could in no way be a cloud. 

A dragon, not the one Rose and the Doctor had ridden earlier that day, ascended onto the cobblestone of the square. This one was not as big as the one they’d ridden, but it could still carry the weight of one soldier, and that didn’t mean it was less dangerous and threatening than any other dragon. 

Once the dragon’s feet had fully touched the ground, a soldier came leaping off it’s back, and headed towards them. 

“What the hell is going on here?” She asked, clearly confused, if not irritated. 

A middle-aged woman stepped forward, whom Rose hadn’t noticed before, stepped forward, anger written on her face. “This man came into my library, digging around for ancient texts!” The woman accused, pointing a surprisingly bony finger at the Doctor, who was trying to wipe the blood from his mouth and nose. 

“He could’ve been sent by his mistress to pick something up.” The soldier reasoned. “Aye, I asked him who sent him and why he was there, and he said he wasn’t sent by anyone!   
That was a Freelancer and was curious about the history of Fiolaid Demons!” The woman exclaimed, her voice growing louder with each word. 

“He has no mistress? 10 lashes for lying and for entering an established education building, as well as taking an interest on Dark Magic.” She judged. 

She laughed at bit to herself. “At least he can’t read. That would truly be a disaster.” Soldier smiled. The Doctor audibly gulped. Whether he was nervous or trying to clear his mouth of any unwanted liquids, Rose wasn’t sure. But she sensed that the next thing said by anyone was not going to have a good result on their part. 

“He can though!” the woman cried out. The amused smile was quickly wiped off the soldier’s face and stared at the woman long and hard. “He what?” 

“I heard him mumbling to himself while reading the words! He knew how to read, Captain!” The woman said, completely ratting him out. Rose allowed her eyes to shut closed in frustration, letting out a barely noticeable sigh. Of course. 

The soldier turned towards the Doctor and Rose’s direction. “20 lashes, then.” She said, her jaw snapping shut. 

She turned to leave, but then turned around again, confusion written on her face. “Wait, why were you three having at him, then?” The woman asked, looking at the three men, particularly the one with the bloodied knuckles. 

“The way he was dressed. Look at him! All posh and fancy, completely mocking everyone else here! We were just putting him in his place, Captain.” Bloody Knuckles explained. The soldier nodded in understanding. “30 lashes, and that’s final.” She said, turning around to finally make her leave. 

“I’ll send someone to come pick him up for his punishment immediately.” The soldier said, not bothering to turn around to face them as she walked back to her… escort. 

“No one here is getting is getting ‘punished’. He’s done nothing wrong!” Rose stated loudly, trying her best to defend the Doctor, helping him to his feet. 

The soldier turned around to face Rose, clearly exasperated that this was still an ongoing conflict. 

“I’ve just said all the things he’s done wrong. If you don’t punish them, they’ll never learn.” She said, rolling her eyes. 

“We didn’t know. We’re not from here, we came to visit. We’re guests of Queen Amphitrite, ask anyone in the palace.” Rose tried again. 

“Really? What province are you from, then?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. Rose didn’t know how to respond. The only other province of on this planet was Candora, and she knew that at least some of the people knew about it, and that it probably wasn’t much different from Aephaera. 

Before Rose could answer (or not answer, in this case), the Doctor spoke up. “Agrua. We’re from Agrua, Captain.” He said holding his knuckles up to his nose to try and stop the bleeding, and failing. 

The woman nodded, as if that was the right answer. “And you said you were guests of the Queen, then?” She asked. Rose nodded in confirmation. “And I really don’t think that she’d like to hear that you beat her own guests.” Rose added, hoping that would be some sort of help. 

The soldier stopped and stared at Rose for longer than she’d consider comfortable. Finally, she nodded. “Very well. You and your servant are free to go. Just, please don’t mention this to the Queen.” She pleaded. 

Rose knew that any other person might tell the Queen anyway, but she was not any other person. “I won’t.” She said, making the words final. The soldier nodded, then left with her dragon moments later. 

The people dissolved into the streets again, seeing as all the conflict seemed to be finished for the day. Once they’re gaze had been averted, and the three giant men had finally left them in peace, she turned to the Doctor. 

“Ohmygod, Doctor, are you okay?” She asked, now letting her worry shine through. He raised an eyebrow at that. “Just peachy.” He snapped back, wiping his bloody knuckles onto his pant leg. “Sorry.” She murmured, immediately regretting her stupid question. 

“Your jaw is broken.” She said, filled with worry. It wasn’t a question, and they both knew it. “I’ll be fine.” He tried to reassure, but she wasn’t having any of it. 

“No, Doctor. They could have seriously hurt you! Why didn’t you try to defend yourself? I know you’re smart enough to outsmart them.” She said, trying her hardest not to let her volume grow louder and cause another scene. 

“I didn’t see them coming, they were behind me. I was trying to figure out a way to resolve it peacefully, then they broke my nose. I tried thinking of some sort of way of way to beat them without damaging them too severely, then they broke my jaw. That was when you came in, and I knew I had to protect you at all costs, no matter what happened to me.” 

He explained, his tone growing soft at the end. 

“You don’t need to worry about me-“

“Yes, I do!” His sudden outburst made her jump, sufficiently cutting her off. 

“I lost you once, Rose,” He said, growing quiet as people took a second to stare. “I can’t lose you again.” 

His sudden sentiment surprised her, and she didn’t really know how to respond. 

Seconds went by before the air around them became thick with tension and awkwardness. 

“How long will it take to heal?” She asked quietly, obviously referring to his broken nose and jaw. “Not long. I just have to push up some regeneration energy up there, and it should be done relatively quickly.” He explained. Rose nodded. 

The Doctor grabbed her hand urgently, breaking his gaze from her to the public. “I can’t do it here. Let’s go.” He hissed. Rose nodded in agreement. 

He leads her down back alleyways, out of sight as to not cause anymore attention, mostly because she was certain most of the neighborhood had seen the ‘skirmish’ by now. Or at least heard of it. News usually travelled alarmingly fast. 

The sky grew dark with rainclouds overhead, and it wasn’t long before the grassy lands of Aephaera were drenched, the rain forcefully pounding on the cobblestone of the streets. 

The palace up ahead looking darker and more looming than it had in daylight. They’re pace sped with the urgency of the downpour. It was only a matter of minutes before they got to the palace. 

But the palace grew darker with every step, the tension thick. Something was happening in the making. Neither the Doctor nor Rose could tell what, though they both could sense it. And they both knew it was not going to be pleasant.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, please heed the warnings. This one is kinda graphic with some violence and blood and stuff. It is kinda plot heavy but the event is mentioned after this chapter, so if you wanted to skip this one, i guess you could, but I dont' recommend it... just please read at your own discretion!

Rose and the Doctor were making their way through the darkened halls of the palace towards the Mess Hall for dinner. The Doctor was fully healed, mostly. The cuts were gone as well as the dried blood on his face (though that wasn’t a Time Lord trick, they just wiped it away), and his nose and jaw were no longer broken, all thanks to regeneration energy. 

He was as good as new (except for the bruises. I can’t do anything about the bruises Rose. I can heal the broken blood vessels, but that doesn’t stop the dead blood cells from showing. Don’t look at me like that I can take a few bruises, really Rose, its not as bad as it looks but please don’t touch it ow! What was that for!)

Thus, there was a deep purple mark on the left side of his nose and his jaw. Rose tried to convince him to let her cover it up with a bit of foundation if he was self-conscious about it, but he wasn’t having none of that. 

After an unnecessarily lengthy argument about several makeup techniques, they decided they were hungry enough for dinner, and would join the meal if it was being served; if it wasn’t, they’d just steal some bread or something from the kitchen, it couldn’t be that hard to find, honestly. 

They turned a corner and the dining room was in sight. Thankfully, there was indeed food being set on the table, saying that dinner might be served any minute now, and they made it just in time. 

“I don’t know, Doctor, I think the chicken last night was a bit dry. Couldn’t hurt to add a bit of gravy, don’t you think?” Rose smiled, discussing last night’s cuisine. “Rose Tyler, gravy would not simply do the trick! Besides, the light sauces on the planet Reux Lau are exquisite. Just the right amount of flavor, the right amount of thickness, and you’ll never believe what they put in the-“

The Doctor was rudely interrupted by the door in front of them slamming shut, quite forcefully. Simultaneously, all the torches in the room, the Grand Hall darkening immediately, the moonlight the only source of light, since the clouds had cleared since that afternoon.   
“-sauces.” The Doctor finished, murmuring the last word to his sentence. “Doctor?” Rose asked quietly, trying her best not to let her fear show through her voice, cringing at how   
she failed miserably. 

The Doctor walked over to the tall, wooden door. He tried the metal handles first, but they wouldn’t budge. He pulled more forcefully at the door, but nothing happened. It was sealed shut. They were not getting out of that room. 

“Can’t you use the sonic?” she asked as a suggestion. 

“It doesn’t work on wood.” He replied, almost as an afterthought. Rose was about to say something quippy back, but soft noises that seemed to come from all directions stopped her. 

Whispering. That was what the voices were. They were in men’s, women’s and children’s voices, all saying nonsense words out of sync. It was most disturbing. 

The Doctor seemed to stop what he was doing, distracted. “Do you hear that?” She asked. The Doctor nodded. “Whispering.” He whispered, not caring about the obvious irony in his words. 

A single orange light lit behind them, obviously firelight. Both alarmed by the sudden light in the incredibly dark room turned around to face whatever happened. There was no way anyone got into the Grand Hall and lit the flame. Something supernatural was happening. 

They saw, on the other side of the room, was a young woman. She was unmistakeably Idris, the visiting Governess from Candora. As soon as the Doctor and Rose’s eyes laid upon the Governess, the whispering came to an alarming halt. 

The first thing that the Doctor noticed, however, that there was something very wrong with the Governess. She was still, unmoving, and silent. You could hardly hear her breathing. Her jaw was slack, her mouth hanging open just enough to make it disturbing. Her hand clutched the torch so tightly that her knuckles strained visibly with the force, starting to turn white, though her hand was not shaking the least. She seemed frozen in time. 

One of the most noticeable changes about the Governess, even at a distance, was her eyes.   
They were glowing purple. Her pupils were so small, the purple color almost consumed the entire iris, little black dots staring right at them. Rose knew that her eyes were not, in fact, purple. Purple was not a natural color for eyes, and the fact that they were glowing seemed to bring that assumption home. 

The Doctor could sense that something was very, very wrong. He abandoned the door and slowly walked towards the Governess, grabbing Rose’s hand and pulling her behind him.   
He meant what he’d said earlier. In the face of certain danger, he would stop at nothing to make sure she was safe and unharmed, no matter what happened to him. He was not losing her again. 

“Your Excellency?” He asked calmly, trying to see if she could hear him. Of course, she was obviously being controlled via telepathy. This could be the chance to catch the person who’d murdered the young boy they’d found the last evening. 

She stared at him, tiny black dots looking right into him. 

“Ma’am? Can you hear me? Idris? Are you in there?” He asked again, keeping his voice low, calm and steady. He certainly did not want any sort of panic here, especially not from her, or the person who was controlling her. 

From a dark corner of the room, right behind him, a woman screamed his name like she was being stabbed. It was loud enough to make him jump, squeezing Rose’s hand tighter to make sure she was alright. 

“What? Doctor, what is it?” Rose asked, obviously alarmed at what happened. He looked at her, brows furrowed in confusion, eye wild with surprise. “You didn’t hear that?” He hissed, trying to keep his voice down. Rose shook her head, obviously confused. 

The Doctor cursed underneath his breath and turned back to face the Governess. He knew what they were doing. It was an old scare tactic, and he hated to admit that it worked, every time. 

 

He slowly stepped closer towards the Governess. As soon as his foot hit the cobblestone floor towards her, her lips started moving. 

They came out at first, barely as whispers. The only way Rose could tell she was trying to say something was by the fact that her lips seemed to be moving. 

From behind her back, her left arm came forward, where she was gripping in her hand a golden, jeweled knife, the absurdly long blade glinting off the firelight. The Doctor took note of it immediately, and knew what she was going to do with the weapon. 

“Idris, put down the knife, okay?” He asked calmly, keeping his gaze on the knife. 

Her murmuring got louder in response. Now the Doctor and Rose could fully make out the words she was saying. 

“…For when the Wolf strikes, it is without mercy, and his teeth sink in with hungry delight. The others rejoice at the newfound blood, and feast on the fresh meat. Others still join, 

drawn in by bloodlust and revenge…” She said quietly. 

The Doctor slowly stepped closer, and that was when the whispering began again. Only this time, they both could make out words that the whispering was… well… whispering. It was in sync with the Governess’s mumbling, which had grown louder with the air of voices. 

She raised her left hand bearing the knife, pointing the blade towards her own stomach rather than at them, who she might consider the enemies. Oh, this was clever. A homicide made to look like a suicide. It was the perfect way to get away with a murder, though he hated to admit it. 

“Just… put down the knife. I don’t know who’s doing this to you, and I am very, very sorry. If Idris is still in there, I need you to put down the knife.” The Doctor said calmly, Rose noting the fact that the Doctor had seemed to accept the assumption that Idris was not the one in control. It was obvious now, she realized. 

The knife in her hand stopped at her gut, the blade pressing against the layers of leather that she wore. It would not take much to pierce the leather, nor her skin right on all the vital organs. If she stabbed herself, it would not take long for her to die. 

“The dragon seeks, takes all it can and devours. No one fights it, they live in peaceful agony…” she continued to recite something that could not possibly be from her own creativity. She was speaking, but they were not her words. 

“He feasts on blood…” at the last word, she grunts softly she jabs the knife into her stomach, the blood oozing out of her leather almost immediately. Rose gasps and closes her eyes. This was too soon. She’d never seen death like this before, especially not with the Doctor. 

She slowly pulled the knife from her gut, making a sick, wet noise. The blood dripped from her knife onto the floor, dripping on the cobblestone. 

“Put down the knife. Talk to me. We can help you.” The Doctor said lowly, a warning tone. He was become angry. This young woman did not have to die. Whatever the controller wanted, he was sure they could arrange peacefully. This was the absolute last thing he wanted. 

“And souls…” She said again, another grunt, louder, as she plunged the knife into her own gut again, though not in the same hole she’d made already. 

She slid the knife out of her gut, more blood drops dripping onto the floor, making a small, crimson pool at her own feet. She did not waver her stance, her voice did not crack and she did not groan out in pain. This telepathy was… horrifically skilled. The Doctor couldn’t imagine that anyone would do this to someone at their own free will, that is, if that was the case. He could be so entirely wrong. 

Now seeing a pattern, the Doctor knew he had to take away the knife, seeing as she was not going to listen to him. 

As she positioned the knife over a separate spot near her stomach again, ready to plunge the knife into her already injured self, the Doctor suddenly moved to action. If there was any way to save this girl, he was going to find it. 

Daring to let go of Rose’s hand out of raw fear, he sprinted towards the Governess. Just as she was about to stab herself once more, he tore the knife out of her hand and threw it across the room, into the darkness. 

This time, she did scream as he did so, almost as if it was a belated reaction to what had recently happened to her. She shrieked so immensely loud Rose was sure that if there was any glass around, it would definitely shatter. She shrieked protests, directing all her rage at the Doctor who had stopped her from her activities. 

The Doctor noted that her eyes were still glowing purple. He wondered what it would take for him to break the telepathy connection that was obviously forced upon her. He might be able to trace it back to the source, if she survived. 

“What the fuck?! Fuck off you bastard!” She screamed at him at the top of her lungs, saliva projecting from her mouth with the force of her volume. 

“I’m trying to help you!” He yelled back at her, trying to get over her volume, hopefully getting through to Idris herself, and possibly whoever was really in charge here. 

In a desperation, she started to recite the words again in a rush, not pronouncing some of them correctly. She looked down at her wounds with purple eyes and dug her fingers around the flesh and into the wound, screaming as she pulled the skin apart, the blood gushing out and onto the floor. 

The Doctor rushed to try and stop her, to pull her hands away. Rose’s eyes widened and her jaw grew slack with shock of what she saw. She needed to help! The Doctor definitely needed as much help as he could get at the moment. This was an incredibly scary situation. 

Rose’s feet sprang to action as she started to run to the Doctor and the Governess, but the Doctor saw her, and stopped immediately what he was doing. 

“Get back Rose! Don’t come over here!” He yelled at her, knowing she’d hear him over the Governess’s screaming. “But- “Rose tried to protest but the Doctor quickly shut her up.   
“Try and get help, okay? Don’t come over here!” He told her. 

Rose nodded swiftly with wide eyes, and ran in the opposite direction, trying to find an open door or maybe a lower window she could climb through. 

Meanwhile, the Doctor had pried the Governess’s hands away from her wounds, and her screaming only got louder as he did so. 

He pinned her hands behind her back, thus enabling her to hurt herself anymore. “Stop! I can help you! Tell me who I’m speaking to!” He yelled at her, she just screamed more, saliva dripping down her chin. 

At the base of the pupil, he saw that her irises had started to turn a bright orange, with purple around it. Her screaming increased, and the Doctor knew what was about to happen. It was the same thing as the boy he’d found last night in the same room. 

This woman was about to die whether he could help it or not. 

As expected, the screaming died just as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her body crumpling to the ground in her own puddle of blood with a loud thud. The Governess of Candora was undeniably dead. 

The moment her body fell, all the torches were lit once again, and the doors flung open. As shocked as Rose was, she ran into the nearest room, and saw that at least a dozen people were there conversing. 

“Help! Somethin’s happening to the Governess!” Rose yelled at the maids who were standing no more than 20 feet away. 

They all stopped at stared with shock written on their faces. “The Governess of Candora? Idris?” One of them spoke up, obviously concerned, if not the least bit worried.   
Rose nodded. “Come quick!” She yelled, desperation evident in her voice. 

They came running, and into the Grand Hall, where they all saw the Governess’s body lying in a pool of blood, the Doctor standing not too far away from her, parts of his long trench coat stained crimson. It was no mystery who’s blood it was. 

Many of the girls gasped at the sight. Rose didn’t quite know what to say to them. How was she supposed to explain what had happened without them believing it was a practice of witchcraft? For some reason, Rose observed that people in this century had a rather unhealthy obsession with witchcraft, especially on this planet. 

Through the crowd of about 5 women, a familiar face came through. “Ohmygod, the Governess of Candora.” Arya said, shock written all over her face. She looked over to Rose.   
“What happened?” She asked Rose, walking over towards her, seeing as she had drifted a bit from the group of maids. 

Rose looked at her for a moment. “Uh, it’s complicated. You might want to ask the Doctor about that.” Rose said, trailing off a bit at the end, wringing her hands together. 

Arya nodded, walking up to the Doctor, obviously wanting answers. 

“What happened? Why is she dead?” Arya demanded. The Doctor looked to her. “She was murdered.” He said bluntly. Arya’s face quickly turned into a sarcastic sneer. “Of course, anyone can see that, but how?” She almost yelled, obviously angry. 

“She was stabbed. Me and Rose tried to save her, but we were too late.” He said, his usual lengthy explanations of everything alarmingly ceased. “Did you see who killed her?” She asked, suddenly becoming quiet. “No, it was too dark, all the torches had burned out.” He said, almost as an afterthought. 

He looked at Arya suddenly, a look Rose couldn’t quite place. The ferocity and anger and intenseness almost scaring her. It was like a storm, but not quite. An oncoming storm. 

“I am certain that whoever killed her also killed your brother.” He said, showing a bit of the anger through his voice. Anyone here had the right to be angry. “And I swear, I will find   
them and stop them.” He told her, an incredibly stern look on his face. 

Arya gulped (trying to be subtle) and nodded, completely believing him. 

At that moment, all heads turned when a door to everyone’s right suddenly burst open, and the Queen and Princess Althelara came rushing in, a young servant following them. 

It didn’t take long for the Queen to see the Governess dead on the floor, and Rose held her breath waiting for a reaction. 

First, her eyes went wide, her jaw went slack, her hands covering her mouth to avoid being seen agape. Her knees crumpled slightly, so she was bending down, and screamed so loud it almost achieved the volume that the Governess’s did when she… died. 

She ran over to the body, shoving the Doctor, Rose, and Arya out of the way as forcefully as she could and crumpled at Idris’s body. 

Hot tears streamed down her face and into the pool of blood as she scream-cried, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her as if that would wake her. 

The Princess stood from where her feet had ceased to move, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted in shock. It was like she couldn’t really believe what she was seeing right before her very own eyes. 

The Queen looked up from her dead cousin, her eyes full of fury, sweeping the room.

“Who did this?” She yelled at them. No one replied. That only seemed to enrage her more. “Who the fuck did this?!” She screamed, matching her earlier volume. Still the room kept silent. 

Her eyes swept the room, and landed on the Doctor. Or, more specifically, the Doctor’s coat. Particularly the part which had caught some of the blood. 

“You.” She said at a regular volume, lifting one finger to point out of everyone else in the room evidence of her cousin’s blood. “I should’ve known it was you, the foreigners come to murder my sister. You murdered her!” She screamed at them, completely disregarding Althelara by calling Idris her sister. 

“I didn’t kill anyone- “The Doctor began to defend himself, but the Queen swiftly cut him off. “Arrest him! Now!” She screamed, clutching her dead cousin to her. Several guards ran over in response to the Queen’s demand, but Rose quickly jumped in front, taking full advantage as a woman in this society to defend the Doctor. “You’re not arresting anyone, no offense Your Majesty. I was with the Doctor the entire time, I promise you we did not kill the Governess. If anything, we were trying to help her.” Rose stated loud enough for everyone to hear. 

The Queen looked to her, her face all red and blotchy. “If you didn’t kill her, who did?” She asked quietly. 

“We’re not sure yet, Your Majesty.” Rose started, stealing a look at the Doctor. He nodded, allowing her to continue. “But we’re certain that whoever did kill her is also the murderer of the young boy found yesterday- “Rose stole a glance at Arya in the crowd. “Arya’s brother.” She stated. 

The Queen looked at her, quickly turning confused. “A servant was killed yesterday?” She asked, not bothering to hide her offensive ignorance. “Yes, Your Majesty, there was.” Rose stated, not wanting to tell off a grief-stricken Queen who could easily have them both executed with one flick of her hand. 

“But we promise all of you, all of Aephaera, that me and the Doctor will find whoever did this, and we will stop them.” She finished strongly, causing the Doctor to smile softly with pride. Though he knew she didn’t consider herself to be a good public speaker, she was definitely wrong about her abilities. She was in all ways amazing. 

After she spoke her lasts words, the room fell silent. 

The one boy who came in behind the Queen and Princess started grinning widely. 

“For Aephaera!” He yelled, pumping his fist up in the air in enthusiasm, the rest of the room starting to grin and chant ‘For Aephaera!’ with him. 

The Queen saw what was happening with the crowd of people present. How could she sentence the man and woman who were to avenger her cousin to death? She looked to the   
guards. “At ease, ladies. They shall live.” She said weakly, her voice hoarse from crying. 

The guards put the weapons back in their sheaths at their side, and backed away to give them space. 

They had won, for now. They’d won the battle, but nowhere close to winning the war. The had much more investigating to do, since the Royal Family could now be threatened. 

They have much work to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Princess Althelara stood alone in the dark, cold room. Her cousin had just been murdered. Sure, she didn’t exactly care for her as much, not as much as her older sister did. 

Especially since both her and her sister tended to mistreat her since they were children. That didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to mourn. No one should have to die in such an unpleasant way. She saw the body. It was not pleasant. 

She was still dressed in her deep maroon gown from that evening. It was supposed to be for the dinner that night. No one ate dinner together that night. 

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her pale, freckled skin, pink lips and striking green eyes. A deep part of her was glad her cousin was dead. Maybe this would mean her sister would pay actual attention to her, helping her gain knowledge on how to rule a kingdom, as she was supposed to. 

Somehow, she knew that things wouldn’t be any different. She would always be living in her sister’s shadow until the day either her sister died, or she did herself. 

A sharp knock at her wooden, bedroom door made her head turn sharply, looking to see who was there. 

“Who is it?” She called out, not bothering to unlock her door until she knew who it was. 

“An ally.” A deep, muffled voice replied. It was that of a man’s, she quickly noted. What could someone like him want at such an hour? It had to be close to midnight by now. Then again, it could just be a servant wanting a word with her. What about, she had no idea, but she might be able to trust him. All reason didn’t suggest otherwise, after all. 

She walked over to her door to unlock it, and opened it slightly. Though she knew she had nothing to fear, she was still a rather shy person. 

A man stood in front of her door, no slaves clothes, which she found odd. As if he could sense her shyness, he offered a warm smile to her in reassurance. 

She quirked an eyebrow in suggestion, but couldn’t stop the slight smile that played on her lips at the kind gesture. It’d been a while since she’d actually been treated with much kindness. 

“What is your business at this hour?” She asked quietly, not letting the door open any more than what was necessary. 

“I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He said, and her smiled quickly dropped. “Did my sister send you? Because if she did, tell her to say it to me herself if she meant it.” She said, sneering at the thought that her own sister didn’t have the decency to see how she was doing. Idris was her cousin too. 

“No, no one sent me, Your Highness.” He responded. Somehow, that made matters worse. “I don’t want your pity, servant. Leave me.” She said, returning her voice to the emotionless façade she often wore. She started to close the door, when he quickly put his foot in-between the frame and the door to stop her. 

“I have a proposition for you as well.” He said in a hushed tone. Althelara stopped for a minute, intrigued. A servant having a proposition for her?

Without a word, she slowly opened the door in full, and with a nod of approval from her, he stepped inside. She shut the door quietly with a small click. 

They both stood there for a couple seconds, his hands clasped behind his back in a casual manner. 

“S’lovely room, Your Highness.” He observed, speaking in an oddly comforting casual manner. “Thank you. What proposition do you have for me?” She asked, ready to continue with the offer. It was quite interesting. She was royalty, and could have whatever she wanted. He was a servant, and had basically nothing. What could he possibly have to offer to a Princess? A future Queen? 

“You’d make a phenomenal Queen.” He said seconds after she’d spoken, his eyes boring into hers. “You think so?” She asked, trying not to be comparable to a youngling with excitement. But how else was she to treat such a grand complement? 

“I know so. You’d do incredibly better than your… sister.” He said, a smirk growing on his face, but not in a threatening, conceited sort of way. One she’d see in a friend. Maybe that was his intention. 

“What are you proposing?” She asked, not bothering to be subtle in her interest. If she had a chance to be Queen…

He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped before he could say anything, looking down at the floor, possibly rewording his thoughts for her. She couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate the gesture. 

“The people are suffering. Under your sister’s rule, this kingdom will burn. I don’t want that, and I’m sure you don’t want that either. But they might not respond kindly to a new Queen.” He stated carefully, daring to meet her eyes again. 

“So…” She urged him on, eager to see what he thought would be best. 

“The people need a change. If a male were to assume a role of authority…” He trailed off at the end. Her jaw almost dropped at the notion. Other kingdoms had men in charge, they called them kings. How would the people respond to that? How would they get her sister off the throne?

“You’re proposing yourself as the role of king, aren’t you?” She said, more of a statement then a question. His eyes widened. “Well, I wasn’t specifically suggesting me- “

“Nonsense. From what I’ve heard from you already, you seem ready for change, to help the people.” She smiled softly, meeting his gaze warmly. “You’d make a phenomenal King.”   
She said, echoing his earlier words. It was his turn to smirk at that. 

“How do we stop Amphitrite, though.” She asked. “You’d do it? Become my Queen, and I the King?” He asked, almost disbelievingly. She almost rolled her eyes, as if she hadn’t already made it obvious enough. 

“Yes, I’ll help you. Now how will we stop my whore of a sister?” She asked, already out of patience. His eyes noticeably widening at how she referred to her own sister. 

“Depends, Your Highness. How much do you want her gone?” He asked. 

That made her think. All the times Amphitrite denied her simple things, important things. Like when their parents died, she wasn’t allowed to see them, or attend the funeral. She was forced by her, the Queen, to see to executions of innocents. She was even forced to attend the marriage of the boy she loved, and his execution days later when Amphitrite found out that they were meeting in secret. 

Althelara hated her sister. She would easily call her a bitch, a scheming bitch who only cared for herself. She recalled there were times when she wished her dead. 

Althelara looked up at the man, fury written in her eyes, recalling all the times she was mistreated, humiliated and scorned by her sister. “I want her gone. For good.” She said, hoping that would be enough to tell him what she really wanted her sister’s fate to be. 

“We’d need a plan.” He said after considering it, obviously knowing what she wants. Of course. She hadn’t thought about that, though she realized now it seemed necessary. 

“Meet me here in 2 nights, at this same time. I’ll be alone. We can discuss how this shall happen.” She said. He nodded in understanding. 

To seal the deal, it seemed, he lent down and pressed his lips to hers. She did not object. She knew it meant nothing to her. She did not love this man, though she just agreed to essentially marry him, rule the kingdom with him and create better lives. She was a bloody princess, it would happen, she could make it happen. 

The instant it happened, he pulled back and smirked. Something of accomplishment gleamed in his eyes. Though what he’d accomplished to him, she did not know. Not that it mattered. She had an ally. 

“My Queen.” He said quietly, bowing with respect. As he rose, she bowed to him, lifting her skirts and bowing her head low. “My King.” She replied with the utmost respect. 

With that, he slipped out of the room, closing the door quietly, and disappeared into the darkness of the palace.

One thought for certain was swirling in Althelara’s head. She was going to kill her sister, Queen Amphitrite of Aephaera. She grinned at the thought. Her poor excuse of a sister would finally be gone, forever. 

She would kill her herself if she had to. The Queen needed to die. And soon. 

≈

 

She gasped awake, her eyes shooting open, quickly darting around the room for any source of danger. The last place her mind had been was back in the Great Hall. Idris was there, blood oozing out from her leather, her eyes locked onto Rose. A nightmare, it would seem. Except this time, the Doctor was behind her. Unconscious, lying in a pool of blood that couldn’t be Idris’s. He looked about as bloodied as he was in the square. From what Rose could see in her dream, he was dead, and beyond saving. 

The fact that Idris had actually died, and in such a way, was what probably scared her the most. The Doctor obviously dead behind her was even more frightening. There would be no one to save her. The people of Aephaera would be dead, along with herself. The raw uselessness of the situation was what jolted her awake, or maybe it was because of the point in her dream where Idris had slit her throat. She wasn’t quite sure. 

She didn’t know why she woke up so afraid after a nightmare. She knows it was just a dream and that she was in no way in the way of harm. She guessed that was just how nightmares worked. Either way, she knew there was no way she’d be getting any more sleep that night. 

Although, it seemed like some one had heard her. She must’ve made some sort of noise(s) during her nightmare, because there was a fearsome knocking on her door. The voice on the other side was without question, the Doctor.

“Rose? Are you alright?” He sounded worried. Rose couldn’t find anything to say, words seemingly stuck in her throat. “I’m coming in, okay?” He told her. Rose nodded, though she inwardly knew he couldn’t know that. 

The door to her room opened hesitantly, and the Doctor’s head peaked through, scavenging the room for any dangers. His eyes stopped when he saw Rose, breathing heavily, eyes wide with fear, her hands gripping the sheets out of pure fear. It must’ve been a nightmare, a bad one at that. 

Somehow, she deemed it safe to sit up, leaning her back on the headboard of her rather small bed. Their eyes met, silently giving him permission to come in. 

He came hastily into the room and shut the door quietly, trying not to alert anyone else around of what was happening. This was obviously private. This would become one of the many secrets flying around the palace air. 

He came quickly the base of her bed, allowing himself to sit on the edge of her bedding. “Rose, what happened? Are you okay?” He asked her, obviously worried. 

“Nightmare.” She gasped out, eyes snapping to any sort of noise or subtle movement, whether it be in the room or outside her window. 

He inwardly scolded himself, again. He should’ve known how she would react to something like what she saw that evening. If he’d known how dangerous it would be here, he would’ve never brought her. This was incredibly onerous for a first adventure, as it would seem. 

“C’mere.” Was all he said, and she immediately flew into his arms, burying her face into the crook of his neck, seeking immediate comfort. She was blushing the slightest at how fast the action was, but knew the Doctor wouldn’t really care. Not after all she’d seen today. 

The Doctor tried his best to calm her down, and sure enough, her tears did stop and her breathing evened out, but she stayed where she was, obviously needing the reassurance that he was still there. He’d experienced enough nightmares of his own, especially after the War, and knew that even the tiniest bit of comfort would go a long way. 

“What happened?” He asked her gently after she’d seemed to calm down enough to be rational. She pulled away and looked up to him, eyes the tiniest bit red from tears. 

She sniffed harshly before explaining. “I was in the Grand Hall, and the Governess was there, I swear she looked like she was the walking dead… and you- “She tried to explain, but quickly became choked with tears once again, averting her eyes as they filled with tears once again. 

Knowing exactly what she needed, he pulled her back, and they rather fell into their earlier position. Her face buried in his shirt, him attempting to comfort her once again. 

He sensed it was about 1 in the morning, London time, and that meant that Rose hadn’t gotten much sleep already. She’d definitely need more if she were to be in the mood to do anything important tomorrow to stop the murderer. 

“Do you want me to stay tonight?” He asked tentatively, hoping that she wouldn’t read that the wrong way. To his relief, she didn’t, and nodded against his skin. 

She laid down finally, taking him down with her, wanting nothing more than to succumb to sleep, and maybe all of this would be over. Hopefully she’d forget what she’d seen today, like she did when she saw something particularly disturbing on an adventure. 

She did get to sleep, and quite quickly, he noticed. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, like she was so afraid and he was the only one who could protect her. He didn’t object. He just didn’t think that something like this would happen so soon after her return. 

He soon realized that it would do him some good to sleep as well. Neither of them would be any use dead on their feet in the morning. Without a second thought, he dropped a kiss to her forehead, mentally wishing her a nightmare-less sleep for the rest of the night. 

≈

Rose guessed that the next morning, the palace would be rather dreary with the recent death of their beloved Governess, but she was astoundingly wrong. Well, at least half-wrong. Yes, the palace was rather cheerless, but that seemed only to make everyone else more eager to find the killer. Especially the Queen. 

She came to the Doctor and Rose first thing, at breakfast. 

“Tell me about what happened last night.” She said without any subtlety, coming to the other side of the room quite quickly, in Rose’s opinion. 

“We’ve told you everything, Your Majesty.” Rose responded, breaking a piece of bread to share with the Doctor. 

“No, you haven’t. I can tell when one is holding back information, Rose.” She countered, trying to argue to get her way. She should know that that certain form of persuasion was not going to work, especially with Rose. 

“I hold you with the highest respect when I say this, Your Majesty, but me and the Doctor have not held anything back from you.” Rose countered, in her mind trying to diffuse the situation, and trying to end the conversation where it stood. 

The Queen however, took Rose’s wrist in her own fist and harshly forced to Rose to face her, stopping Rose from whatever she was about to do. “Listen, you foreigner bitch, I don’t know how it works in whatever jurisdiction you and your bastard come from, but keeping crucial information from high authority is a punishable offense here, and I will see that you two will get your sentence if you do not co-operate.” 

The Doctor opened his mouth in protest, to defend Rose and himself, but Rose quickly stopped him before he could actually say something. If he did, they probably would get themselves sentenced to something she imagined would not be the wisest decision, especially at the current moment. 

The Queen released Rose’s wrist, resting it on the wooden table nearby, leaning on the table in a very casual manner. 

“Let me try this again.” She said sternly, returned her expression as if the encounter hadn’t even happened at all. “Tell me about what happened last night.”

Rose looked behind to the Doctor for permission, she supposed. She knew she had to be sensitive around people at this time. She had gathered quite quickly that anything out of the ordinary seemed to appear like witchcraft to these people, and after what had happened last night with the Governess, the people would most certainly believe that the palace is possessed, if she didn’t word this right. 

The Doctor, however, didn’t give her any sort of sign that he allowed her to tell the Queen. Maybe he was upset that she had called her a bitch, and him a bastard. That was understandable. But it would help if he gave her some sort of guidance at this moment. 

She looked back to the Queen, not seeing the need to tell her the truth. Besides, Rose wasn’t exactly sure what had happened last night anyway. The Doctor would be a much better candidate for this, since he probably understood what the hell was going on last night. At least, it seemed like he understood perfectly well. 

“Someone had killed her, Your Majesty. The same thing that we’d told you last night.” Rose told her. The Queen clenched her jaw tighter than before, and turned on her heel and strode away without a word. 

Rose guessed that the murder was by the hands of a Fiolaid demon. Remembering what she’d heard from the locals yesterday, their eyes would turn a glowing purple, and that was certainly the case last night with the Governess. Although, Rose didn’t believe that Idris was a Fiolaid demon. She was definitely being controlled. 

The Doctor didn’t say a word to her after the Queen left, picking up some more dry bread to chew. 

“What really happened last night, though?” Rose asked, knowing full well that the Doctor would have the answer. 

“It was the same thing that’d happened to the boy we found about 2 days ago. Extreme telepathy killed the brain cells and destroyed the host.” He explained quickly, shoving another piece of ripped off bread into his mouth. 

“But, you said that the boy died quickly. That was not what happened last night.” Rose pointed out. The Doctor swallowed. “You’re right. That was not what happened last night. It was something far worse.” He said grimly, expression blank. 

“Do you know who did it?” she asked after several seconds of uncomfortable silence. 

“No.” He admitted, which Rose wasn’t expecting. If there was one thing that the Doctor didn’t do, it was admit that he was wrong. At least, the Doctor she knew before she was forced away from him. 

“But we need to find out, and stop them. And since now that the Governess is dead, her family is going to be upset, no doubt. The entire Royal Family is going to be threatened, if it isn’t already.” He said, avoiding eye contact with her. 

“Where should we start then?” Rose asked, obviously curios on to how they were going to solve this mystery. 

“I’d like to go back to the Great Hall. A little detective work never hurt anyone!” He said, finally looking at her again with a grin. A fake grin, she knew, but she applauded his effort to keep things under control. 

“Sounds like a job for detectives, Watson.” She smirked as she turned away to head out to the crime scene. 

“Watson?! If anything, you would be Watson.” He squeaked from behind her. “Oh, I don’t know Doctor. I don’t think you’re really cut out for being the Sherlock of the duo.” She said with a growing grin. 

“Really, Rose? Me, the handsome, genius detective who’s always solving the crimes with his spunky partner, isn’t cut out for being the Sherlock?” He protested. 

“Genius? You flatter yourself too much. Handsome, though…” She stopped and tapped her chin thoughtfully. She closed the distance with a step between them and ruffled his hair playfully. “It’s hard to deny that quality.” She said with a low voice. 

He straightened his posture a bit at her flattery as she turned to walk away again, a smug smirk resting on his face. 

“Wait, you think I’m handsome?” He asked her, almost in disbelief. She laughed shortly at that. “Who doesn’t?” she called to him, already past the doors of the Mess Hall. 

He spared himself the briefest moment for achievement. Rose thought he was handsome? 

Then he realized she was already on her way to the Great Hall, leaving him behind. He called for her to wait up and stuffed another banana in his pocket before racing after her. 

They had detective work to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, this is the prologue to my newest work, and I've got a real good story if you all want to read! Thanks for starting this out with me!


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